American Born Chinese review: Are Emmy nominations inevitable? 

American Born Chinese consisted of eight episodes, and Disney+ released them all at once, which is rare, as the streaming platform is usually known to release weekly episodes of their shows. However, we can't it since this blueprint has definitely worked for some of the other popular streaming giants like Netflix and Hulu. Nevertheless, none of the episodes reached astronomical lengths as all of their run times were within 50 minutes.

American Born Chinese is a modern take on mythological cinema which includes the show lead to encounter Gods of Chinese origin. The show stars Michelle Yeoh as Guanyin, Ben Wang as Jin Wang, Yeo Yann Yann as Christine Wang, Chin Han as Simon Wang, Daniel Wu as Sun Wukong, Ke Huy Quan as Freddy Wong, Jim Liu as Wei-Chen, and Sydney Taylor as Amelia.

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American Born Chinese review: An unfiltered outlook of life as a Chinese immigrant in the USA

If you want to give American Born Chinese a chance, don't expect anything serious because that is not the purpose behind it. The story is mild, easy to understand, and has the classic hero vs. villain arc. Chinese mythology is intricate and has a lot of fascinating stories; their Gods possess unimaginable strengths and reside in their version of heaven. But to maintain harmony in paradise, there must be war.

American Born Chinese begins with a focus on our protagonist, Jin Wang. He belongs to a Chinese immigrant family and lives with his mother. The duo resides in San Francisco's Chinatown and Jin goes to a local school located in the same area. Yes, there is a stereotype that people of Asian origin are brilliant students but Jin completely manages to break this.

He struggles in school and is often even subjected to bullying. Jin is close to his parents and although they are not financially sound, the love between them is unmeasurable. As the story progresses, the protagonist meets a new Taiwanese exchange student, Wei-Chen. Even though Jin isn't amused by the latter initially, the two soon became inseparable.

Wei-Chen then reveals that he is actually the son of the legendary Chinese Monkey King, aka Daniel Wu, and Jin somehow soon gets involved in a celestial battle between good and evil. He decides to join his demigod friend and embark on a magical journey involving Chinese gods and evil entities.

American Born Chinese does a brilliant job of captivating the audience from start to finish. There is hardly any dull moment as there is always something interesting happening in every episode. The action sequences are very well made and the CGI and special effects look pristine. The story is straightforward and does not take a lot of effort to understand. The show has done a good job of capturing the essence of an immigrant family by showing their day-to-day struggles and relationship with their native peoples and land.

Performances by Michelle Yeoh, Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Daniel Wu, and Ke Huy Quan are memorable and we won't be surprised if any of them bagged Emmy nominations. Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan have already won Oscars for Everything Everywhere All At Once but their sight must be set on other accolades.

The cinematography, music, acting, screenplay, and writing maintain equilibrium between the several universes within the show. Fans of ventures like The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, the Percy Jackson film series, Thor, Wonder Woman, and The Harry Potter film series will thoroughly enjoy the show.

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All episodes of American Born Chinese are now available for streaming on Disney+