What to expect from Crazy Rich Asians film sequel: the action moves to China and Hong Kong, with a more intricate storyline
Kevin Kwan’s sequel to his novel Crazy Rich Asians features the same glamour, excess and main characters, plus some nouveau riche Chinese, but is more ambitious in scope and more surprising; expect the second movie to follow its script
The Hollywood Reporter said the next instalment would be based on author Kevin Kwan’s second book in his trilogy, China Rich Girlfriend, and the main cast is expected to return.
In China Rich Girlfriend (published in 2015), Kwan shrewdly shifts the focus from Singapore to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Silicon Valley, and what better way to explore the cutting edge of radically changing Asian social mores than to focus on its new epicentres of action?
The sequel starts off with pathological name-dropping, over-the-top scenes of frenzied shopping and high-society bad behaviour, all seen in Crazy Rich Asians, but the story quickly deepens into a much more intricate, surprising and relevant narrative.
Many of Crazy Rich Asians’ central characters are back: the sensible but rich Nicholas Young; his modestly raised Chinese-American fiancée, Rachel Chu; Nick’s chic cousin, Astrid Leong, and her problem husband, Michael; Nick’s scheming high-society mother, Eleanor; and Kitty Pong, a former Chinese porn star who has managed to marry a crazy rich Hongkonger and is plotting her ascent into Asian respectability.
