Review | Disney+ drama review: American Born Chinese – Everything Everywhere stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan reunite in ambitious adaptation of graphic novel
- American Born Chinese follows an Asian-American teenager struggling to survive high school who gets mixed up in a Chinese mythological battle
- Featuring a star-studded cast and action executed to Marvel levels of spectacle, the series does however get a bit lost trying to cover too much ground
3/5 stars
Disney’s all-star adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s bestselling graphic novel American Born Chinese follows an ordinary teenager whose struggle to survive high school becomes infinitely more complicated after he befriends the immortal son of Sun Wukong, otherwise known as The Monkey King.
Blending Chinese mythology with superhero-style action in a high school coming-of-age comedy that tackles topical issues relating to ethnicity and inclusion, Kelvin Yu’s new show has stacked its plate to a tipping point at the pop-culture buffet.
Aiming to bridge the gap between traditional Chinese culture and the contemporary Asian-American experience in a way that will appeal to a typical Disney+ audience, this well-intentioned but precariously unbalanced project struggles to condense its many commendable themes into a single digestible whole.
The show kicks off with a crash course on the legend of Sun Wukong, introducing the Monkey King (Daniel Wu), his iron staff and the threat of an impending celestial war led by the Bull Demon Mowang (Leonard Wu), before we witness Wukong’s son Wei-chen (Jimmy Liu) steal the staff and flee to Earth, in search of a fabled fourth magical scroll.
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Disguised as a Chinese exchange student, Wei-chen enrols at a suburban high school, where he is paired up with Jin Wang (Ben Wang), a second generation Taiwanese teenager, because their principal believes they have “so much in common”.
Wei-chen believes that Jin Wang is his guide, destined to take him to the fourth scroll.
Jin, meanwhile, is too busy contending with the pressures of high school, emotionally distant parents, casual hallway racism, and a yearning desire to ask out his beautiful classmate, Amelia (Sydney Taylor), to see Wei-chen as anything other than emblematic of every Chinese stereotype he is trying to distance himself from.
Nevertheless, Jin reluctantly agrees to look after him, and, despite Wei-chen’s wobbly English and lack of cultural aptitude, Jin is steadily impressed with the assured manner in which his new friend carries himself – a quality he himself sorely lacks.
Pretty soon, Jin is fighting for more than a place on the school soccer team and to not be the butt of a viral racist meme, as Mowang and his army of minions begin appearing in his sleepy suburb looking for Wei-chen, the iron staff, and the scroll.
Most notable is episode four, which breaks from the established format to recount the origin story of how Sun Wukong became the Great Sage, and is almost entirely subtitled.
Similarly, an extended subplot involving Jimmy, a racially insensitive caricature from a ’90s sitcom, and how the actor who played him (portrayed by Ke Huy Quan) addresses the issue many years later, fails to land.
A similar thread was present – and better handled – in Yang’s original graphic novel. In American Born Chinese, the arc mirrors closely stories that actor Quan recounted during his recent awards season success about obstacles he encountered in his own career. While sincere, timely and important, it never quite connects with Jin and Wei-Chen’s narrative.
More pertinent are the domestic disputes between Jin’s parents (Chin Han and Yeo Yann Yann), and the comparisons Jin draws between his home life and those of his contemporaries.
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While it might seem callous to criticise a show for being too ambitious, American Born Chinese suffers from attempting to cover so much ground, even as its approach to Asian representation is rarely less than entertaining.
Executive producer Destin Daniel Cretton, who directs the first and last episodes, ensures the action is executed to Marvel levels of style and spectacle, while the other directors, including actress Lucy Liu, bring a genuine sweetness and authenticity when it is their turn behind the camera.
Suffice to say, whether audiences tune in for the mythological adventure or the show’s more adolescent antics, they will likely leave satisfied, perhaps even overfed by the abundance of riches on offer.
American Born Chinese is streaming on Disney+.
