West Side Story Review – A Perfect Blend of Classic and Modern Filmmaking

“A great new iteration of a well loved musical…”

There is always the worry that a remake of a much loved movie will fall flat. Luckily, Speilberg’s new take on West Side Story does not suffer from that curse. Exactly like the 1961 version, this remake tells the story of Tony and Maria, two people who fall in love and must fight the fact that they belong to two different gangs in New York, The Jets and The Sharks. How does this version hold up in comparison to the original movie? Let’s dive right into it.

First and foremost, the characters and dialogue don’t lose their zing from the original 1961 take on things. Everything continues to flow well and the majority of our main cast is outstanding. Rachel Zegler…we’re surprised to find out is a newcomer to the industry. She is an incredible Maria and emulates the beauty needed to fit the role. Second best performance, hands down, goes to Hamilton‘s Ariana DeBose, who gives an overly strong performance and almost steals the show truth be told.

Everyone else performs very well. It’s a powerful ensemble cast all in all. It’s also somewhat emotional to have the original Anita back, and in a somewhat central role. The only slight mismatch is unfortunately one of our leads. Ansel Elgort is a very gifted acto, let’s be clear about that. Watch Baby Driver and The Fault in Our Stars for clarification. However, does he hit the right marks for Tony? Not really. He sings and he charms, but there still seems to be something missing that makes him fall short of perfect for the role. He gives all that he’s got, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough.

The plot overall doesn’t differ very much from what we’ve seen in the 60s. In fact, the story we get in this iteration is much more close to the source material really. We get the love story, the conflict, the razzmatazz from the musical numbers and the same heart wrenching ending.

Related Article: Spider-Man: No Way Home

The only downfall, which the ’61 version also shares, is the dancer numbers being slightly drawn out. For musical nerds, this will be a dream, but for casual moviegoers, it’s a bit much. Yes, this worked well back in the day when cinema was still in its infancy when you think about it, but nowadays a bit too much simplicity with the filmmaking of musicals can not be so easy on the eye.

When it comes to the director’s chair, Spielberg proves why he’s one of the best in the business. Spielberg ultimately delivers the same film, but the updating of technology and filmmaking gives it a really good face lift. Yes, some of the dance numbers could use more movie magic, but you can tell it’s being thrust into the 21st century. It’s really gifted filmmaking that allows a sort of hybrid in this case; the same feel of the original film, but with use of camera lenses, sound and costume, we’re just getting a newer take on traditional.

We also can’t take away from the fact that this does feel like a stage production…on the biggest soundstage in history. It’s the ultimate stage show almost in the way that the sets are designed and the way the bigger scale environments are presents. Look at the scene outside Maria’s building for reference.

The overall film is a perfect blend of new and old. This adaptation is perfect proof that older iteration of musicals can be brought back to the big screen and can give moviegoers the same feel of watching the original from the golden days of Hollywood. As long as its in a good director’s hands, it can still hold the same magic from yesteryear.

When it all comes down to it, 2021’s West Side Story is a great new iteration of a well loved musical. Yeah, it can feel a bit drawn out, but that purely depends on your taste. Not everyone will love 10 minutes of quick paced dancing and finger clicking, but in the hands of Spielberg’s tone and visuals you can get over it. You’re watching an extremely talented ensemble here. Familiarise yourself with these names; they’ll surely be seen more often on the big screen moving forward.

From us, it’s earned a good 8.1/10.

West Side Story is now in cinemas everywhere.