Chang Can Dunk – Review
107 MInutes, Rated PG
Written and Directed by Jingyi Shao
**NOTE: this post may be updated with audio if we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, though, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Chang, a 16-year-old, Asian-American teen, bets teh high school basketball star that he can dunk by Homecoming. the beat leads 5’8″ Chang on a quest to learn to dunk-not onluy to impress his crush, Kristy, but to gain the respect of his high school peers, too. But before he can rise up and truly throw one down, he’ll have to reexamine everything he knows about himself, his friendships, and his family.
Disney has made a huge impression with its canon of coming of age, learns a lesson-type teenage angst movies across its history, and Chang Can Dunk continues that tradition.
Updating the “loner/outsider” POV to be that of Chinese-American Chang, a band geek and secret basketball nut, who confronts the BMOC bully and bets him he will be able to dunk by the end of the school’s football season (despite standing all of 5′ 8″), Chang desperately recruits a social media basketball hustler to train him to dunk.
But the film only reaches its full potential around halfway through, after Chang (spoiler alert) wins the bet in front of the Bully, his friends, and a good portion of the school after hours.
What follows is something that could only happen now, and that is the fallout from the social media documentation of Chang’s journey and its victorious conclusion, catapulting him into poop-culture fame and notoriety, where his character is truly tested.
And then…
…well, that’s when the movie actually gets to the good stuff.
The performances here are pretty good all the way around, especially Dexter Darden as Deandre, Chang’s trainer. Bloom Li’s Chang rings true as a real American teen trying to find a place in their own slice of the world.
The only really clunky point is during the aftermath when Disney tries to cram some racism into the film as bully Matt confronts Chang and Chang desperately wants Matt to say Chang can’t dunk because he’s Asian.
It’s just a sloppy bit of writing that could have worked better with a bit more finessing.
Overall, Chang Can Dunk is a good look at teen life, as well as the outsized influence social media is having on them.
Check it out.
Chang Can Dunk hits Disney+ on March 10 and stars Bloom Li, Ben Wang, Zoe Renee, Mardy Ma, Chase Liefeld, and Dexter Darden.
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
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