In watching it, the series has at least 4 of what I would consider "A" plot lines that wrestle for your attention and that never truly coalesce. You have the obvious protagnosit Jin Wang (played by Ben Wang) who is struggling as a child of an immigrant in a mostly white school.
He's also pursuing a crush, caught in his family's drama, and serves as an unwitting "guide" for Son Wukong's son. Yes, the monkey king, the most famous Chinese mythological character who has made his way into all kinds of pop culture with an endless amount of TV series and films based on the character.
Then there's Son Wukong's son, Wei-Chen (played by Jim Liu) who is on his own heroes journey to pursue a literal dream that he had of finding the series' MacGuffin, a fourth scroll that will solve all his father's troubles.
There's Jin Wang's parents, Simon and Christine Wang (played by Chin Han and Yeo Yann Yann respectively) who are struggling with their own identities as immigrants and minorities. This causes a strain on their marriage which is explored throughout all 8 episodes.
Yeo Yann Yann to my surprise is a Malaysian actress! So there's actually 3 Malaysians on the show including Michelle Yeoh and comedian Ronny Chieng!
Finally, there's Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan who plays an on-the-nose character named Freddy Wong who plays a charicature of an asian person who is the butt of the joke in the in-universe sitcom series Beyond Repair. Freddy's plot mirrors the life of Quan almost to a tee—former actor who played the token asian in a top Hollywood sitcom quits Hollywood because there are no roles for him. Just swap sitcom for movies and Freddy and Quan are nearly identical.
Almost like Game of Thrones, all four of these plot lines are explored in most episodes and they're compelling in their own way.
And then there's the B plot line with Daniel Wu as Son Wukong who is fighting a literal war and a figurative war with his son, Michelle Yeoh as Guanyin who's just vibing and having a good time, the football plotline with Jin, and the love interest, Amelia (Sydney Taylor). Daniel Wu's "B" plotline actually receives the "A" treatment in episode 4 with a lovely throwback to Hong Kong cinema. It was even shot and filmed to mimic an old Hong Kong film with practical wire effects and fully-built sets.
Without getting into spoilers, Simon and Christine's family drama and Quan's life after Hollywood were the most intereting parts of the series. Quan's struggle to be taken seriously as an actor has almost no relation to the rest of the plot and could have been dropped without affecting any other part of the story. Its almost non-fiction retellling of his tale doesn't help things either.
Protagnonist Jin Wang's struggle to fit in was relatable at first but his ties to the fantastical journey of Wei-Chen pulls down any momentum his story has at every episode.
AND THEN there's the wuxia elements that say "Hello" for action-packed 5-minute sessions in almost every episode. These aren't your typical Hollywood shaky-cam, throwaway, B-unit productions either mind you. These set pieces are full on masterpieces of wuxia filmmaking in short bursts that allow actors like Daniel Wu and Michelle Yeoh to shine amongst the industry's best fight choreographers.
It's like a big reunion of Shang Chi and Everything Everywhere All At Once's stunt teams and it shows in the wire work, camera work, and clarity in the actor's movements. The actors themselves are doing the fights and action is filmed wide for the audience to take it all in. You might even call this the 5th part of this series. 4 parts plot lines and 1 part action sequences.
American Born Chinese wants a slice of everypie, but where Ms. Marvel triumphed in terms of representation and superhero wish fulfilment, American Born Chinese stumbles in finding its own identity and story.
Ironically, like the ABC experience (or the OCBC experience for us Chinese bananas here in Malaysia), American Born Chinese is suffering from an identity crisis. Its central theme is also, ironically, identity.
Jin doesn't know his own identity and wants to be a "regular guy", Wei-Chen is pursuing his own identity away from his infamous father, Parents Simon and Christine lost their own identities as individuals after becoming immigrants and parents, and the villain of the story mirrors all of these crisis as well. To say more would be to spoil it so I won't elaborate.
Given the insane amount of talent on board for this series I really wanted to love this series but I'm left wanting. However, its got enough meat on its bones to warrant a season two I believe (that open-ended ending helped too), I just hope it figures out its identity in the post-Marvel-superhero universe and finds the right balance between representation, storytelling, and action.
American Born Chinese premieres on Disney+ Hotstar, 24 May. Catch it on Disney+ or with your subscription of Astro Movies Pack