"All my life, it's like I'm always just about to fall off the edge of the world's tallest building. I stopped falling the second I saw you."
An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. For a while, I was reluctant about this project. Sure, Spielberg is such an amazing director and had the potential to do this remake justice, but I didn't see the use in remaking it. When the teaser came out during the Oscars earlier this year, we were given a promising look into it. Here we are now with raving reviews and one of the best of the year. Spielberg's West Side Story exceeds expectations on every level to bring us something refreshing and captivating. His vision for this project showcases passion and a reason to tell a story that's been redone time after time. Everything about this is well thought out. Per usual, he teamed up with Janusz Kaminski to shoot this. Something about the way he shot this makes it look like it's actually from the 60s. The color correction, grain, and the movements reflect on that golden age of movie musicals and pays homage to their great impact. Every aspect on a technical level looks great. I'm a huge fan of the editing. It's really impressive and helps with the pacing of this long film.
The cast is absolutely fantastic. Ariana DeBose is just amazing as Anita. This is a role destined to make stars and win awards and that's what she does here. Rita Moreno has a part in here as well and proves to still be just as great years later. Mike Faist plays the best Riff yet. David Alvarez is good as Bernardo. Rachel Zegler makes you smile the whole time as she lights up the screen as Maria. The only weak link here is Ansel Elgort and he's still pretty good. What I think makes him the weak link and generates the weakest part of the whole film is the romance. Maria and Tony are heartwarming to watch, but nothing much more. I didn't fully believe this blooming romance over a couple days. They're great actors but the chemistry just wasn't completely there. Part of this goes to the story. It's almost hard to believe such a love would exist how it plays out and things that eventually further the story, but we have to accept that. The musical numbers are mostly all the same as the original, but the stuff in between has been altered to create something new and not just another swing at it. I'm really glad they went for that. Another aspect I thought was a good choice was the language barrier. Around 40% of the film is spoken in Spanish, however, they chose not to use subtitles. It brings an authenticity to it and goes to the theme that love and language have no boundaries. Also, it's trying to be a bit better than the original with inclusivity and better representation. I'm really pleased with how West Side Story turned out. With how well it's doing with critics, audiences, and awards circuits, don't be surprised to see it win awards and nominations. It's to the point where it could potentially be the best picture winner of the year, and I wouldn't mind that. Still, we're three months away and many things will happen till then. With its poor box office performance (due to a few reasons), I would suggest seeing this when you get the chance if you've already seen these other big blockbusters that just came through and are about to get their releases. Watch it, you won't regret it.
An adaptation of the 1957 musical, West Side Story explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. For a while, I was reluctant about this project. Sure, Spielberg is such an amazing director and had the potential to do this remake justice, but I didn't see the use in remaking it. When the teaser came out during the Oscars earlier this year, we were given a promising look into it. Here we are now with raving reviews and one of the best of the year. Spielberg's West Side Story exceeds expectations on every level to bring us something refreshing and captivating. His vision for this project showcases passion and a reason to tell a story that's been redone time after time. Everything about this is well thought out. Per usual, he teamed up with Janusz Kaminski to shoot this. Something about the way he shot this makes it look like it's actually from the 60s. The color correction, grain, and the movements reflect on that golden age of movie musicals and pays homage to their great impact. Every aspect on a technical level looks great. I'm a huge fan of the editing. It's really impressive and helps with the pacing of this long film.
The cast is absolutely fantastic. Ariana DeBose is just amazing as Anita. This is a role destined to make stars and win awards and that's what she does here. Rita Moreno has a part in here as well and proves to still be just as great years later. Mike Faist plays the best Riff yet. David Alvarez is good as Bernardo. Rachel Zegler makes you smile the whole time as she lights up the screen as Maria. The only weak link here is Ansel Elgort and he's still pretty good. What I think makes him the weak link and generates the weakest part of the whole film is the romance. Maria and Tony are heartwarming to watch, but nothing much more. I didn't fully believe this blooming romance over a couple days. They're great actors but the chemistry just wasn't completely there. Part of this goes to the story. It's almost hard to believe such a love would exist how it plays out and things that eventually further the story, but we have to accept that. The musical numbers are mostly all the same as the original, but the stuff in between has been altered to create something new and not just another swing at it. I'm really glad they went for that. Another aspect I thought was a good choice was the language barrier. Around 40% of the film is spoken in Spanish, however, they chose not to use subtitles. It brings an authenticity to it and goes to the theme that love and language have no boundaries. Also, it's trying to be a bit better than the original with inclusivity and better representation. I'm really pleased with how West Side Story turned out. With how well it's doing with critics, audiences, and awards circuits, don't be surprised to see it win awards and nominations. It's to the point where it could potentially be the best picture winner of the year, and I wouldn't mind that. Still, we're three months away and many things will happen till then. With its poor box office performance (due to a few reasons), I would suggest seeing this when you get the chance if you've already seen these other big blockbusters that just came through and are about to get their releases. Watch it, you won't regret it.