This movie is so bad it is embarassing and I am Chinese

Inserted in between these rub it in

your face wealth scenes are what appears to be tourism ads. When some of these Asian actors demand that they want to be represented in Hollywood, how about bringing something fresh to the table that will make people sit up and listen?

Instead the opening scene is the race card being played in such a cringeworthy bogus way that paves for an unbelievable plot right easternhoneys dating app to the end. Another incredible bombshell is that Rachel, the fermale protagonist (Constance Wu) has no idea that her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) comes from a super rich and famous family. It’s 2018, she’s a cool professor — go feminism but she’s has never googled his family — surely a take down on her intelligence. Wu is in superb form in her comedy sitcom but here, she’s a stunned deer who gets shoved around.

Then there’s how Singaporeans are depicted. The women are all preened and dripping with brand labels. When they are not eyeing the commoner Rachel up and down and gossiping, they are shopping or having crazy parties. I have never heard of Singaporeans partying away into the night and causing scenes. They are one of the most ultra conservative Asians on earth.

The movie has another go at western culture in the dumpling making scene. Chinese parents pass down traditions or values as well as recipes so their children will never resort to microwaving macaroni cheese and feel so much resentment towards their parents to ship them off to nursing homes. And not to forget these crazy rich Asians also act like westerners and party hard like they’re in Magaluf. Spot on!

It’s so sad to see my rich culture that already has an excellent film industry pander to Hollywood. Michelle Yeoh is South East Asia’s screen legend even way before she ventured into the universally acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There are other notable Asians who have been given a platform in Hollywood — Jacky Chan, Gong Li, Ang Li, Lucy Liu. But it seems the complain still remains that Hollywood is whitewashing Asian stories. But if Crazy Rich Asians is what is on offer, I don’t blame Hollywood for sourcing other talents.

It’s 2018, people of all culture have so many opportunities than before so there’s nothing really to complain about. That is if you are one of those people who expect to be rewarded just for turning up or just want to make a lot of money via Hollywood but use the cultural diversity cloak to get more attention.

I get it, Singapore is exotic and hyper modern and Singaporeans LOVE their food but the world already knows that, it’s nothing new

The romantic comedy genre is a flavor that gets a bad rap for being one-note and heavily playing on sappy/silly tropes, even if that is not always the case. I have learned to expand my horizons when it comes to the genre and fit more good titles in there that don’t necessary hit that mark. Last year, we were graced with the best of the genre staple I’ve seen in a long time in The Big Sick because of its strong writing. I am pleased to say that we have a winner again this year, and a lot of it has everything to do with how the editing complements the writing and directing.

A lot of bashing the west but ironically this movie is like Sex and City with a lot of European luxurious brand names dripped throughout

Crazy Rich Asians is an entry that treads lightly on both the romance and comedy (there are plenty of laughs to be had, I just never got an abs workout or fell out of my chair is all) and instead delivers a story built around culture, respect and trust, taking pages from Meet the Parents and The Devil Wears Prada. It is an absolutely accessible film for all audience members, even if they might have had *ehem* so good of a time that I couldn’t hear some lines because of the overdrawn ling, editing and choice of music, director Jon Chu finds a way of bringing about action in a film that is entirely devoid of it. He really highlights Singapore as a character in the film full of vibrancy and vivacity, claiming set-pieces to dictate entire acts of the story. There is a lot of symbolism that is foreshadowed very subtly, and almost everything has a payoff instead of making the audience question what a certain setup was meant for. We get to see the crazy-rich invite us to their fantastical routines as side-characters like Awkwafina hilariously bask it all in and takes nothing for granted. We envy their possessions, even if we may not envy their lifestyle.