Review of West Side Story (2021) by Robomartion — 18 Jan 2022

It's good but I don't see why musical movies are just musicals filmed with a camera. If I wanted to watch West Side Story the musical I'm sure its on somewhere. Although it is good I don't see any point to his film existing. It is a carbon copy clone of the musical but instead projected onto a screen. The problem is there is no depth to the characters outside of their songs and when the characters switch from a serious conversation to dancing and singing in the middle of the street you can't help but face palm. You could adapt the musical into a real film with real believable characters instead of theatrical, singing cardboard caricature cutouts, but then you would lose the charm of the whole thing in the first place. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you ask me musicals are best left where they came from - on the stage.

The other pain in this movie is the un-subtitled Spanish dialogue which is probably nearly a third of the words spoken. Whatever reason they want to give for that given isn't good enough. It actually divides the audience because its like the Puerto Ricans are speaking under their breath so the Americans can't hear it. Although Ansel Egort does very well singing, his acting in this movie reminds me a lot of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker - which I don't know if it fits the character - and Maria does not seem to have a moral compass or any values that make her likeable at all. Overall I got a bad taste of Puerto Ricans as duplicitous and conniving from this movie and it made me like them less than went I went in and I can assume that is the probably opposite of the aim of the movie.