West Side Story – 2021 movie

Went with my friend to see West Side Story this afternoon and have to say Spielberg's done a great job in taking what is an iconic musical and adding an extra layer that wasn't there before without really changing much. The stars of the film are most certainly Mike Faist, Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno and Rachel Zegler who give great performances, Ansel Elgort is serviceable as Tony but he is outshone by his co-stars. One thing I noticed was two of Mike Faist's co-stars from Newsies play Jets which was a really neat touch but given how dance intensive that show was, it's no surprise they ended up in WSS.

The choreography is stunning and proves that WSS doesn't need to be tied down to Jerome Robbins, iconic as his choreography was and Tony Kushner's script is very good, it doesn't side with either the Jets or the Sharks which is quite a good balance and the use of Spanish by the Puerto Rican characters was a great addition and felt natural.

All in all, it's still the same West Side Story that we all know and love and I can see it well come awards time.

Absolutely loved it. Ariana DeBose in particular was incredible.
Definitely one to see on the big screen.

Saw it this afternoon on IMAX. Absolutely loved it. Ariana DeBose and the choreography are the highlights for me.
Just checked IMDB trivia, which I love after watching a movie, three original broadway cast members from Mean Girls and three ex Billy Elliots (including the actor playing Bernardo) are in the film.

A stunning adaptation and for me a brilliant reframing. Played Riff many years ago in the now defunct Spitalfields Market Opera Theatre ( anybody remember that venue?) and its one of those shows that never leaves you.

For me I actually loved ALL the performances.

From a visual point of view as well its BREATHTAKING! So many images and close ups that are reminiscent of classic MGM movie musicals. Its actually very clever in all its knowing tributes to the original film and the era of classic film adaptations.

Above all the passion is so evident from the first opening sequence to the end credits. Have to say I could never engage with the original stagey dubbed pastiche dance based film adaptation from back in the day. Even then I remember seeing it as a child in the 70s and thinking THEY ARE ALL OLD lol! But this you see their age their inexperience and their vulnerability. ESPECIALLY in the harsh Anita vs the Jets in Docs drugstore.

Anyway GO SEE IT!

This film has one major flaw, which is that Ariana DeBose isn't in it enough.

She is magnetic - whenever she was on screen, even in the background, I didn't notice anyone or anything else. Flawless, and I will be astounded and angry if her name is not on the Oscars nomination list in a few months' time!

Joking aside about the "major" flaw, this is largely a masterpiece with a few minor niggles. Visually it is stunning, and the additional historic context is necessary and works perfectly.

I adored that the Spanish isn't subtitled, and as I suspected if you are even paying half an ounce of attention you will get the meaning without any problem whatsoever due to the exceptionally talented Sharks cast. DeBose steals the film but David Alvarez is also fantastic. Their chemistry is electric and the scenes with Anita and Bernardo are highlights. America is jaw-droppingly good.

DeBose and Alvarez's chemistry does make the lack of chemistry between Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler more obvious, but on her own Zegler is largely excellent. Her voice is angelic and her acting mostly strong (A Boy Like That/I Have a Love is exceptional from both ladies), and she did really well with an ending that is rushed (though I understand why it was), but I thought she fell a bit flat at the start of the first meeting between Tony and Maria after the rumble. It didnt hit the emotional punch I was expecting. That is partly due to Elgort as well though, as his acting just isn't great. He moves well and some of his singing is decent (though his vocal coach clearly didn't do enough work on his hugely distracting vibrato) but for some reason his acting only really works in his scenes with Rita Moreno. The rest fall flat.

Mike Faist and Paloma Garcia-Lee are great and Rita Moreno is wonderful. Somewhere made me sob and the scene between her and DeBose was both of them at the top of their game. Heart-wrenching.

Minor niggles about Elgort and one of the songs aside, I really did love this. Might see it again tomorrow.

I would say in regard to Rita Moreno's Valentina:

You don't like HOOK? Blasphemy!!!! (Teasing of course, though I do love it.) 

Saw it yesterday and loved it.

Finally a movie musical with very good acting AND singing. The language of sung thoughts on screen works perfectly with the pre-recorded tracks, which heightens the emotions even more. It leaves much more room for real acting without harming the intense and soaring quality of the sung thoughts, which makes the scenes extremely intense. Best of both worlds.

It is very well directed, most scenes are basically a work of art. Well cast. Loved the technicolor colors, it actually looked like the time it was supposed to take place in. Love the music and the orchestra. Love the musical direction of the singing, very sincere.

It's not easy to make that opening song look tough, realistic and sincere, but somehow it worked. Spielberg is a master at his craft. Everything I knew and have heard of West Side Story in the past was lifted to a higher level in this film.

It also shows that it's a good thing to mix theatre talent with screen projects. It's a very special craft.

If I had to nitpick and mention some flaws, it would be that there are 2 songs/scenes that would have benefitted form being just a little shorter, which is the "officer Krupke" song and the sequence where Tony and Riff and the friends fight for the gun in the shed with the holes in the floor. Other than that, the pacing of the film was good.

This movie gives me hope for future musical movies. It's glorious.

I agree with the raves on this thread so far, with one exception.
The film felt extremely relevant to today apart from ‘I feel pretty’ which I think could have been cut for this version. It somehow felt too Disney Princess-ish for the grit in the rest of the movie and was the only part that felt dated to me.It was also the only part of the film that seemed set-bound.

I do think Ansel Elgort was mis-cast and thus the only lead that didn’t shine brightly as the others.

I hope the film reaches a wide audience, particularly in terms of a younger, non-theatre loving audience, but I doubt it will. With the message of the film being spot-on in the sadly polarised world we currently live in, it such a good lesson in the futility of prejudice.

I hope Ariana Debose and Rita Moreno aren’t nominated in the same categories come awards time, as they both deserve a win.
I also hope Mike Faist gets the recognition he deserves for his role. I saw him in DEH on Broadway and thought he was compelling good in that ( as opposed to the woeful Noah Galvin and the show itself, but that’s off-topic).

Hats off to Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner for the rare feat of re-inventing a classic in such a majestic fashion.

I Feel Pretty acts as a decompressor for the audience because the previous scene of the Rumble but also there's an element of irony because Maria is singing about her love not knowing what has happened to both Tony and Bernardo.

I can see why artistically a decompressor is a good choice, but I think that could have been done in a scene, rather than using that song. I haven’t seen the original movie for ages so can’t remember where that song was placed in the story, but I’ve got a feeling it was earlier in the plot.

To me, that was the one song in the new version that stuck out as feeling very dated, particularly with Maria feeling like a much stronger character than she was in the original movie.