Review: West Side Story (2021)
West Side Story, directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the tale of two rival gangs, the Puerto Rican Sharks and the Caucasian Jets, vying for control of the streets of Manhattan’s West Side. But in the midst of this blood feud fueled by violence and elaborate dance numbers, one of the Jets’ founders Tony (Ansel Elgort) meets Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of the Sharks’ leader, at the school dance, prompting for the two to fall in love. The two work together to try to settle their gangs’ respective rivalry with each other before their love story take a tragic turn for the worst.
Here’s a controversial opinion: West Side Story is very overrated. I was never a fan of the original Broadway show nor was I a fan of the classic 1961 film from Robert Wise that went on to win a heaping ten full Oscars. The musical numbers honestly were not very memorable to me outside of a select handful and the “Romeo and Juliet” storyline never really resonates with me. The 1961 film has at the very least a lot to appreciate about it, and Spielberg’s take on the story is more or less the same way.
Spielberg’s West Side Story has a lot to appreciate much like the 1961 film, but ultimately it’s still the same West Side Story that I find grossly overrated.
Story wise, hardly any of it has changed from the original. Screenwriter Tony Kushner gives some of the characters a bit of an upgrade by adding some neat backstories to them in the hopes of fleshing out these characters, but these backstories hardly change anything because the characterizations remain the same. The original story did not have these complex backstories to these characters because it never needed them outside of exposition. You can give Ansel Elgort’s Tony the most tragic backstory imaginable but it won’t change anything because he’s still playing the same Tony portrayed in the Broadway show and the 1961 film.
Kushner’s screenplay is also objectively cheesy and not very subtle with its messages. Racism is an overbearing theme in every version of West Side Story from the treatment of the Puerto Ricans by law enforcement to the biting satirical lyrics of the song “America”, but one clear difference between Spielberg’s film and the ‘61 film is just how cleverly the ‘61 film presents racism in the film. It’s never made explicit, but you can very much tell the cops and the Jets are racist against the Sharks through the way they act, the way they form their sentences, to even the musical motifs playing at certain moments. Spielberg’s film stupefies this theme of racism to where it’s near impossible to not pick up the idea.
Another thing that I missed from the ‘61 film is oddly enough the scale of the sets. I remember the ‘61 sets being wide, dynamic, and colorful. The editing of the ‘61 film was sparse, allowing us to appreciate the choreography of the dance sequences. Spielberg‘s remake is dirty, claustrophobic, and muted with its colors. The dance choreography is a lot more expressive and “modern” but the edits are unusually a lot more frequent, reducing the scale of these musical sequences when compared to the ‘61 film.
There are marked improvements Spielberg makes over the ‘61 film. For one, the performances are much better, which I know is a controversial opinion. Rachel Ziegler shines in her first acting role as Maria, Ansel Elgort struggles a bit during the film’s heavier moments but at least his singing’s on point, the rest of the supporting cast were all stellar, even Rita Moreno, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in the ‘61 film, does a great job in this version of the film as a new character. Spielberg’s trademark directing gives West Side Story the dynamic “film look” the musical sorely needed, the music is still the Leonard Bernstein score you remember, and as I mentioned earlier the dance choreography is a lot more expressive and entertaining to watch,
Overall I appreciate Spielberg’s updates to the story, but ultimately it’s the same story. I really did want to love this film as much as everyone else who saw it did, but much like the ‘61 film I just couldn’t get attached to the characters or the story or songs. People who enjoyed previous versions of West Side Story will no doubt enjoy Spielberg’s version as clearly I’m in the minority once again for a West Side Story film. If I had to choose which version of the story is better I would slightly go with Spielberg’s remake, but then again I would go with a lot of other musicals over either versions.
Final Verdict: 5/10