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Crazy Rich Asians Review Thread
- Thread starter snapcracken
- Start date
Depending on the area roughly half of the audience is non-Asian. So, YES! Non-Asians are definitely interested in dropping $ to spend 2 hours watching Asians do shit on screen!
My theatre on Friday night was about half non-Asian.
This is what Kswiss said in the Box Office thread
So it seems to have alot of wide appeal so far
So it seems to have alot of wide appeal so far
It's an adaptation of a novel, so Hollywood can only do so much with it without totally changing it.
Great read. I don't know how to play mahjong but I understand the context of what was happening. It's cool to know how much symbolism went into just the details of the pieces.
Michelle Yeoh was the standout for me as Eleanor, and I really loved how they handled the Mahjong scene. I actually didn't catch all the symbolism either, but I do know how Mahjong works and figured out what it meant when she showed her hand.
Also, Awkafina, verdicts still out. But I'll put up with her for the trilogy.
Also, Awkafina, verdicts still out. But I'll put up with her for the trilogy.
It's basically the opposite of what happened with the poker scene at the beginning of the movie.
Its been a while since I've played, but when you pick up a tile, you can either keep it or toss it (and someone else can pick it up if it completes part of their hand), and I think she basically would have won if she didn't toss the tile into the pile (which allowed Eleanor to win). It was a metaphor for what she was telling Nick's mom.
I really liked the movie, and was surprised that my Sunday matinee was filled and most seemed to be non-asian (I live in Orlando). I hope word of mouth carries this movie along but I'm very glad it did so well in its opening.
I think my showing was half white half Asian. The whites being teenagers mainly. While I did see some older Asian couples.
I probably wouldn't have picked this up even if they were playing poker
This was a good solid romance. Awesome cast. Michelle Yeoh and Awkwafina were standouts for me, but that's not to detract from anyone else. Constance Wu was a warm and endearing lead.
I loved the mahjong scene and the ring scene that came after.
Btw I would like a sequel starring Harry Shum Jr.'s body.
I loved the mahjong scene and the ring scene that came after.
Btw I would like a sequel starring Harry Shum Jr.'s body.
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Has anyone read the sequels? I've only finished the first one and I loved it, but I haven't heard much about the rest of the trilogy.
I legitimately thought Rachel was going to go home without marrying Nick.
It seemed like the movie went out of its way to demonstrate that the Young family is just a poisonous atmosphere that really wouldn't be good for her. I'm not sure why Rachel getting Elenor's approval is what makes everything "okay", given that grandma still hates her and everyone else in that world seems to look down on her. The Astrid-Michael relationship exists largely to show how the tilted power dynamic can ruin and eat away at a mixed income marriage. Most of the other relationships depicted are largely unhealthy, and few people in that world are sincere.
It felt really weird to me that the "happy ending" is not only Nick proposing, but Rachel immediately re-entering the mega-rich world of lavish rooftop parties. At least do something to signify that she isn't going to be warped and fucked over by this subculture of lunatics.
It seemed like the movie went out of its way to demonstrate that the Young family is just a poisonous atmosphere that really wouldn't be good for her. I'm not sure why Rachel getting Elenor's approval is what makes everything "okay", given that grandma still hates her and everyone else in that world seems to look down on her. The Astrid-Michael relationship exists largely to show how the tilted power dynamic can ruin and eat away at a mixed income marriage. Most of the other relationships depicted are largely unhealthy, and few people in that world are sincere.
It felt really weird to me that the "happy ending" is not only Nick proposing, but Rachel immediately re-entering the mega-rich world of lavish rooftop parties. At least do something to signify that she isn't going to be warped and fucked over by this subculture of lunatics.
I haven't read it myself, so this is second-hand, but:
The book apparently ends very differently from the movie. There's no mahjong scene at all and Rachel and Nick remain separated at the end. I assume they get back together in subsequent books but it's not the obvious happy ending we get in the movie.
I really like the twist that mahjong scene puts on everything. All the mahjong knowledge I have comes from Yakuza games (i.e. not much!) but most of the implications of the scene were pretty clear to me. I especially like how it's clear that Rachel knows exactly what she's giving up, both in the game and with Nick. Maybe with some distance I'll think that mirroring of the game and her own situation is too on the nose, but right now I think it's clever.
Re: Singaporean representation. I am happy to take as given that this movie does a bad job of depicting Singapore as much more than an exotic backdrop. So I'd love to hear some suggestions for films that do a better job of showing the many facets of Singaporean society. I found this list to start but would also be curious to see if anyone here has recommendations.
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I've read all three. The second is the weakest, IMO. And both the second and the third end up feeling a little more corrosive than the first, because they so neatly divide the characters into heroes or villains, and mostly villainizing either new money rich or the non-rich. I still liked them, just not quite as much as the first book.
Michelle Yeoh was awesome in this. I thought she stole the scene in everyone she was in. She makes Miranda from Devil Wears Prada look like a kitten.
Overall, its a delightful little rom-com in a classic sense and I thought it was great. It was a little bit of a reskinned Cinderella (which they reference) mixed with Pride and Prejudice (which was obvious), but so what? Those are classic stories that translate across all cultures.
And that Majong scene (And the night market scene), was absolutely fantastic.
The happy ending thing was my biggest criticism. She goes back and everyone is there with open arms huh
I was actually hoping Rachel would just leave and this movie would have a La La Land-esque
Bittersweet ending.
The trailer rubbed me the wrong way, but every single Asian guy I know said it was actually pretty good / better than they expected.
Like Constance Wu pulls off her mask to reveal she's been Emma Stone this whole time?
Yeah the trailer for this movie is so bad. I thought it was going to be a mediocre movie I would go watch just for the Asian representation when the trailer first showed up, but I'm so glad that I ended up watching and rewatching it because it's also actually good.
Just figured I'd post a review/blog/whatever/thing I wrote about the movie to try to process some of my feelings about it:
https://medium.com/@allen.kwan/craz...sian-american-cultural-milestone-1e9fd0057ddd
https://medium.com/@allen.kwan/craz...sian-american-cultural-milestone-1e9fd0057ddd
Thank you for being so wonderfully articulate as always. Great read.
For those who want an in depth explanation of the Mahjong Scene : https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/8/17/17723242/crazy-rich-asians-movie-mahjong
I love this movie so much, I've already seen it 2 times on the theaters. Might go for a third!
The Angry Asian Man link earlier is the same article/explainer written by the same person
lol yeah, a prof I worked with didn't notice it either. Poor TA guy... maybe he deserves a spinoff too.
(My Prof is a Crazy Rich Asian and now I have papers to grade...)
This article clarified something for me - Rachel's hand was a fully concealed one which would've been worth more points than Eleanor's exposed hand when she picked up her first set of tiles.
I didn't know all the symbolism behind the tiles used but when I saw the dragons and winds when Rachel showed her hand I popped off lol.
So many times when I was playing with my family I'd be one or two tiles away from a concealed hand and couldn't pick up a discard tile that won someone else the round.
But to give your winning tile away because you knew someone else needed it for the win, even with a worse hand than yours is S O G O O D .
Dude, 200% this. And then bringing it home with
the ring??
Yeah for real, when I saw that
the ring Nick used the second time was Eleanors, it was legitimate shock and awe. Rachel Chu well played!
In hindsight duh and also it doesn't change what everyone else has said about some of the weird/off aspects of the ending but I legit teared up when that happened. I am not a romcom person at all.
I've been listening to the soundtrack at work nonstop today and yesterday. The Yellow cover with all of the feels.
Funnily enough all the Chinese versions of Western pop songs just made me want to go back and listen to where it all began for me:
I loved how real and genuine some of those conversation scenes felt. My favorite was when....
... Nick and Colin were sharing beer on the secluded island after getting away from Bernard's decadent stag party. When Nick revealed that he was going to propose to Rachel, and Colin expressed joy but also doubt because of the implications. Chris Pang played up that scene so well.
How did they
get off the boat and get to that island by themselves?
Movies like this are cool because when I was growing up I get that being asian was uncool and therefore I was uncool by extension. It's good for asian teenagers to see themselves portrayed as desirable in a mainstream theater release
