Crazy Rich Asians is currently the number one film at the box office. It received positive responses from critics and audience. A sequel is now in development. Jon M. Chu and the company are currently having a great time right now for the success of the film. As a fan of the novel, I was excited to see the film adaptation and the fact that this is the first Hollywood film since 1993 to have an all-Asian cast. I’m always rooting for Asian representation since I’m Filipino. Fortunately, I was able to finally watch the film together with my friends who are also fans of the novel. I’m going to share my thoughts.
In every film adaptation of a novel, this is the question that always goes: Was it faithful to the source material? My answer is mostly yes. It’s always a challenge to adapt a novel into a feature length film. There are many story lines that they have to explore from the novel that should be put in the movie. In this case, they clearly had that challenge. If you have read the novel, you know that this is not just about Rachel and Nick’s love story. There are many story lines that were explored in the novel. Were they able to cover them all? No. Is it still a great movie? Yes. I’m not surprised that they cut some parts from the novel. They mostly focused on the central story which is Rachel and Nick. They also explored Astrid’s story line but not everything. Other story lines from the novel were explored in the film in such a short but nuanced way.
I don’t think it would be fair to debate the film’s faithfulness to the original source material. As someone who studied screenwriting and had an experience to adapt a novel for a short film school project, I can say that it’s really difficult to explore all the story lines. You have no choice but to focus on the main story and cut some supporting story lines. Going back to the movie, I can assure that it was still faithful to the novel. They got all the essence and the characters were still interesting. Reading the novel would help you understand the characters about why they worked that way. They also added some elements for the betterment of the movie like expanding Peik Lin’s presence in the story.
In terms of the casting and performances, I can say that I was very satisfied with the casting of the film. Most of them have the looks that I envisioned when I was reading the novel. Constance Wu and Henry Golding’s chemistry were undeniably great. Gemma Chan played Astrid elegantly and she was exactly what I had Astrid in mind. Michelle Yeoh was wonderful as always as Eleanor Young. Awkwafina and Ken Jeong were hilarious in the movie and their talents clearly helped on bringing their respective characters to the movie. Nico Santos was impressive as Oliver T’sien. Sonoya Mizuno and Chris Pang were also great as Araminta and Colin, respectively. I also want to give a shout out to my fellow Filipino, Kris Aquino, for her satisfying cameo in the movie and she turned out to be the one who gave validation to Rachel being part of Nick’s world.
As I’ve said, I always root for Asian representation because it’s something that I need as a Filipino who loves to watch Hollywood movies. I want to see Asians leading a Hollywood movie. I want to see them not just doing martial arts or in a historical war. I want to see them in a contemporary story just like this movie. The movie has won every hearts, especially the Asian community. I’m one of those hearts. I hope the positive Asian representation in Hollywood would continue because of this film. This proved that Asians can also be leading characters in a Hollywood movie.
Overall, the movie was great. My friends and I discussed it after we watched and we all fell in love with it and satisfied about its faithfulness to the novel. I want to commend Chu for directing this brilliant movie and making the Asian experiences as authentic as possible. They were also able to showcase all the “rich stuffs” in the novel and bring them all to the movie There were many relatable moments that made me gushed because I experienced them many times. I can’t wait for the sequel. The mid-credits scene (which I won’t discuss) made me excited about the second film and I assume that it will be an adaptation of China Rich Girlfriend. Right now, I wanna congratulate all the people behind the making of this movie for all the successes that they have right now.
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