West Side Story
Year: 2021
Rating: PG-13
Length: 156 minutes / 2.60 hours
I absolutely adore West Side Story (1961). When I heard it was being remade 60 years after it dominated the Academy Awards, I was skeptical. Why mess with perfection? Even with Steven Spielberg directing, I had my doubts. Then I watched the first trailer and had chills of nostalgia. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. After finally watching West Side Story (2021), I had to admit that this remake mostly recaptured most of the magic of the original. It even had some improvements, which I appreciated.
The qualms I had with this version of the hit Broadway musical were relatively minor. First, Spielberg has a visual style that sometimes went a little overboard on the lens flare. We aren’t talking J. J. Abrams-levels of lens flare, but it was enough to be distracting. Second, the choice to have more of the Puerto Rican characters speak Spanish really helped sell the immersion. Even when I knew what was going on, it was hard to follow without subtitles (and I’ve been practicing my Spanish for over a year). Perhaps this is easily fixed by turning on subtitles when watching at home, but it was a challenge when I saw it in theaters.
The choice to go with a cast filled mostly with unknowns was bold, but it worked out spectacularly. The only one I recognized (aside from the Rita Moreno cameo) was Ansel Elgort (of Baby Driver (2017) fame). I think it helped focus on the singing and choreography—both of which were equal to (if not better) than the 1961 version. Spielberg definitely improved the cinematography, as it made the movie feel like it took place in an actual location instead of on a stage. Finally, there was much more context to the characters’ backgrounds and motivations, which made some songs (like “Cool”) make much more sense than their 1961 counterparts.
A visual and contextual improvement on the original with only a few minor issues, I give West Side Story 4.0 stars out of 5.
