Review of West Side Story (2021) by Moviemitch96 — 10 Dec 2021

Directed by Steven Spielberg, this is a remake about the classic 1957 Broadway play and 1961 film of the same name that sees star-crossed lovers (Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Ziegler) from rival gangs and different ethnicities within the upper West side of Manhattan fighting for each other and their love, all while battling the disapproval from their family and respective gangs they happen to be a part of.

It's a more modern Romeo and Juliet of sorts. I had mixed feelings about this film being remade, especially when the original is just so perfect and holds up so well even today, despite some glaring issues of whitewash casting (such as Natalie Wood as Maria).

Here however, Spielberg rights that wrong by not only assembling a large and respectable cast consisting largely of Latino actors suited perfectly for their roles, but also giving them a sense of individuality and showing great respect and insight towards them and their culture by not even including Spanish subtitles.

My other initial concern was that this film would simply just be a copy-and-paste remake of the original, following it beat for beat. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this film instead honored and followed the spirit of the original while also feeling polished and fresh in its own right.

The grain texture and cinematography of the film even felt like it tried to pay homage to the original, as it felt and looked slightly older as if we were meant to relive the sixties and the experience that film gave us all over again.

The songs and choreographed dances and battles throughout are al so unbelievably impressive, and the late, great Stephen Sondheim's songs and lyrics are still just as fun as they were back then and remain timeless and more than hold up to this day! Their timeless commentary on racism and other social tensions ring loud and true.

As for the performances, Ansel Elgort and Rachel Ziegler's chemistry is unmistakable whenever they share the screen with each other. However, they each more than hold their own in separate scenes as well.

Other big standouts include Ariana DeBose as Anita and Rita Moreno (who played Anita in the 1961 film) who plays Valentina in this remake. Each of these ladies gives it their all, bearing their heart and soul in each and every one of their scenes and songs.

The film does match the length of the original at two and a half hours, which was another initial cause of my concern of it being a beat for beat remake, and it still does feel a little long at times, but overall, this film and this story proved to be wholy entertaining and impeccably put together thanks to another solid cast, elaborately choreographed and impressive song and dance/fight sequences, and stellar and faithful direction from Spielberg.