Review of Crazy Rich Asians (2018) by Kathy H — 05 Sep 2018

Crazy Rich Asians is a fantastic movie, The cinematography and color palette in the film was amazing and I feel like the pacing was on point, the way that the story flows was generally at a very good pace. Overall, the story and plot seemed decent and not too bad, it was interesting and hysterical. There were a few problems with the conflict of the film that I feel like could've been done better, that being the way the conflict is addressed, the way that the conflict is presented to us makes it feel like the hate Rachel is getting was delivered in such a way that we don't really feel like it exists. One example would be after the wedding scene, everything seems fine and it seems like the conflict is resolved and the resolution of the film has commenced, however, very soon, Nick's mother decides to prohibit Rachel from staying with Nick, which didn't match the tone of the wedding at all. Even if this was an attempt to have the 2 events contrast each other for emphasis, the way that the story seems to jump from place to place was extremely confusing and part of the reason there is a relatively weak conflict. Other than that, the movie was an interesting watch for sure, the scenic shots were very stunning and the comedic scenes were funny especially scenes with Awkwafina and Nico Santos.

I personally feel like the way the story was told was amazing, especially when the Astrid side-story was incorporated, the film seemed like it was perfectly balanced, with Rachel struggling with her past, Astrid with the present and Nick with the future. The way that all three story arcs were contrasting each other, but still related and eventually merged into one story was very well done by both the actors and screenwriters. I was also extremely happy when half way through the film Rachel and Amanda were having a talk in the spa, the way that it constantly cut to Nick's conversation made it feel like it the conflict would be another "Couples have some miscommunication and decide not to talk about it while hating each other" cliche, instead, it didn't end up like this and I personally feel like that was a great path to take considering to tone of the movie. Overall, the film was interesting, funny and would be worth another watch.