American Born Chinese is a series released by Disney Plus, adapted from the graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. The film has eight episodes starring Ben Wang, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Ke Huy Quan, Jimmy Liu, Sydney Taylor, Daniel Wu, and Michelle Yeoh. How far can these series explore the genre by blending Chinese drama, mythology, and its stars?
Jin Wang (Wang) is the son of a Chinese immigrant couple who have lived in the US for a long time. While his parents struggle to make a living, the son still seeks his identity among his high school peers. One day, a new student who is also of Chinese descent, Wei-Chen (Liu), continues to stick to Jin. Jin doesn’t realize that Chen is the son of the monkey god, Sun Wu Kong (Wu), who descends to Earth to save the world of gods in turmoil.
This series presents something epic with a promising premise and big stars. Such an epic story with the realm of gods and humans but unable to be processed without meaningful conflict and promised threats. The story focuses more on Jin’s teenage hormones, which also doesn’t have a clear direction. Who is Jin, considered able to help the universe from destruction? This needs to be answered unequivocally. Like superhuman, Wei-Chen has physical strength with all the attributes of god, but how can Jin still not be tempted and instead busy with his crush?
I thought for a moment that this was a brilliant message to teach a lesson to Jin, a teenage figure of US descent who no longer knows his origins and traditions. It’s not. Until the climax, the conflict in the realm of the gods, which was in a precarious situation, still felt flat. Not even one pinch. The script and dialogue are so weak, and the plot often jumps around that it feels like something needs to be added to the story. Not a single character is strong enough to cause us full sympathy. Didn’t two of its players win Oscars? I don’t know, but something is complete, “Wong.” The two teenage characters (Wang and Liu) are too weak on chemistry and seem too relaxed and as if everything looks normal amid a world near the end. They don’t look threatened, so how can we?
American Born Chinese is stuck in a complicated cross between immigrant drama and fantasy without a clear storyline, even though seasoned stars support it. The realm of the gods only seems to be a patch for a youth drama whose direction cannot be understood. Are all those problems a mirror of Chinese immigrant teens in the US? An ideal example is the fantasy drama masterpiece that starred three players in this series which also won an Oscar for Best Film. With all the complexity of its plot, Everything Everywhere All At Once emphatically, with the depth and its meaning, summarizes simply the relationship between mother and daughter. I missed something and couldn’t find a point to inspire the story other than feeling tired and bored. Should a mythical story full of wisdom and harmony about the universe be packaged in such a shallow way?
