West Side Story (2021) (Disney+ 4K Dolby Vision) Movie Review & Comments

I think Spielberg would do better sticking with the other Sharks rather than these Shark's & Jet's much more interesting to watch
 
I don't mind musicals, I grew up watching Fiddler on the Roof, Calamity James, Oliver! etc. I particularly liked West Side Story. I own it on Blu-ray and even today I like it, though I don't love it. I didn't love Spielberg's version either, despite the slick camera work and good actors. I just don't see the point of it, sorry. I tried to like it but couldn't. My wife who didn't like the Robert Wise version couldn't stand this new version, she said it was like it was plodding along from scene to scene for over 150 mins.. I think if you allow yourself to be invested in the characters of Tony and Maria and love the songs you'll enjoy this version. But if you don't.. 6/10
I think if you care little for both versions.

Then it is due to the faults of the base story. Romeo & Juliet.
 
Last night’s viewing.

‘West Side Story’ (2021)

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Let me start by saying that I love Steven Spielberg and I love ‘West Side Story’.

The 1961 film is my all time favourite screen musical and has been ever since I saw it as a child. I’ve literally lost count of how often I’ve watched it – around forty times in the cinema and even more than that on home video formats. I’ve also seen it on stage in the USA in a Broadway revival, in the UK with a touring Broadway cast and in one truly excruciating production with a British cast that I ended up walking out of.

So when I heard that this bona-fide classic was being remade I was highly dubious. However, when I heard that the director was Spielberg, my interest was more than piqued. He is a director that doesn’t wander into remake territory too often and I thought perhaps he could bring a fresh and interesting slant to the material as he had done in his previous remakes, ‘Always’ and ‘War of the Worlds’.

Sadly, with ‘West Side Story’, this was not the case and while the film was OK (damned by faint praise, I know), it doesn’t stand up against the 1961 original and I was left wondering why did Spielberg bother to remake such a classic?

Let me say straight off that the film looks amazing. The cinematography and production design (you literally are in late ‘50s New York) are outstanding and many of the musical numbers are spectacularly staged.

However, while visually spectacular, the musical numbers completely lacked the fire and excitement of the original as did the performances of the actors. In fact that encapsulates what disappointed me about the remake – the lack of “fire” in several departments.

I think the first error was in replacing Jerome Robbins choreography. Robbins was co-director of the original film, directing the musical numbers while Robert Wise directed the rest. Robbins’ choreography is as much the heart and soul of ‘West Side Story as Leonard Bernstein’s music and he was careful to preserve the bulk of choreography from the stage show for the film (with the exception of ‘The Prologue’ and ‘America’ which were greatly expanded for the big screen and managed to improve on their stage versions). Indeed on seeing a stage production for the first time after living with the film for many years, I was astonished at how precisely the staging of the musical numbers in the film followed the choreography of the stage show.

The old adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” came to mind frequently while watching this new version of the film, as many of the musical numbers unfolded. There was much that was bigger, (‘The Dance at the Gym’ and ‘America’ in particular) but by no means better, both lacking the sheer fire and excitement of the original film.

Then there were complete misfires in the shape of ‘The Prologue’ -which seemed to veer half-heartedly between the full-blown, precise choreography of the original and conventional action sequences- and ‘Cool’. The latter in particular -in the 1961 original- is probably the most spectacular dance sequence ever committed to celluloid, whereas in the remake it was something of a limp lettuce in comparison to the original, again with the new choreography coming across as decidedly weak and half hearted in much the same way as ‘The Prologue’.

Then we have the acting performances, none of which were bad, per se, but which when viewed in comparison to the original, particularly in the portrayals of the secondary leads of Anita and Bernardo were decidedly lacking.

In the original film Rita Moreno and George Chakiris in those roles, literally stole the show from the leads and both deservedly scooped Best Supporting Actor and Actress Oscars, whereas their opposite numbers in the remake, while perfectly adequate, failed to spark or generate anywhere near the on-screen fire of Moreno and Chakiris.

Fire; there’s that word again.

Likewise many of the supporting cast were virtually anonymous. In the original stage show and film, many of the gang members were clearly defined with distinctive personalties, particularly The Jets, with memorable characters like Action, Ice, A-Rab, etc, each having clearly defined personalities with memorable moments and performances in the film, whereas in the remake, they were totally anonymous and indeed I’d be hard pressed to identify any of the aforementioned without another viewing of the film.

Of the leads in the 1961 original, probably the most unimpressive performance (not bad, but unimpressive in comparison to other cast members) was Richard Beymer as Tony, however his performance positively sparkles and electrifies compared to Ansel Elgort in the remake, who virtually sleepwalks through the role. Of all the performers only Rachel Zegler as Maria comes close to giving Natalie Wood a run for her money in the role.

If you’ve never seen the 1961 film (or the stage show), then Spielberg's remake will pass a few entertaining hours, but unfortunately in comparison the stone-cold classic that is the original, the remake comes across as a (albeit visually impressive) poor second.

The only emotion this engendered in me was a burning desire to watch the original yet again, which I will be doing tonight. Indeed if you’re totally unfamiliar with ‘West Side Story’ watch the original first, which may prompt you to view the remake. However, if you view the remake first, I fear it may not inspire you to check out the original.

File this one under totally unnecessary remake and lower tier Spielberg.
 
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Spielberg said the US is a multilingual nation with millions able to speak Spanish. Okay, that's great for them, they get to understand the entire script, but what about the rest of us?

Most of the dialogue is in English and it certainly didn't spoil the movie, but it was losing me at times during some scenes where there were lengthy exchanges exclusively in Spanish.
I had subtitles on throughout and don't understand why the Spanish dialogue couldn't have been subtitled in Spanish. I know a little of that language so that would have helped me follow those bits of dialogue!
 
Last night’s viewing.

‘West Side Story’ (2021)

View attachment 1665593


Let me start by saying that I love Steven Spielberg and I love ‘West Side Story’.

The 1961 film is my all time favourite screen musical and has been ever since I saw it as a child. I’ve literally lost count of how often I’ve watched it – around forty times in the cinema and even more than that on home video formats. I’ve also seen it on stage in the USA in a Broadway revival, in the UK with a touring Broadway cast and in one truly excruciating production with a British cast that I ended up walking out of.

So when I heard that this bona-fide classic was being remade I was highly dubious. However, when I heard that the director was Spielberg, my interest was more than piqued. He is a director that doesn’t wander into remake territory too often and I thought perhaps he could bring a fresh and interesting slant to the material as he had done in his previous remakes, ‘Always’ and ‘War of the Worlds’.

Sadly, with ‘West Side Story’, this was not the case and while the film was OK (damned by faint praise, I know), it doesn’t stand up against the 1961 original and I was left wondering why did Spielberg bother to remake such a classic?

Let me say straight off that the film looks amazing. The cinematography and production design (you literally are in late ‘50s New York) are outstanding and many of the musical numbers are spectacularly staged.

However, while visually spectacular, the musical numbers completely lacked the fire and excitement of the original as did the performances of the actors. In fact that encapsulates what disappointed me about the remake – the lack of “fire” in several departments.

I think the first error was in replacing Jerome Robbins choreography. Robbins was co-director of the original film, directing the musical numbers while Robert Wise directed the rest. Robbins’ choreography is as much the heart and soul of ‘West Side Story as Leonard Bernstein’s music and he was careful to preserve the bulk of choreography from the stage show for the film (with the exception of ‘The Prologue’ and ‘America’ which were greatly expanded for the big screen and managed to improve on their stage versions). Indeed on seeing a stage production for the first time after living with the film for many years, I was astonished at how precisely the staging of the musical numbers in the film followed the choreography of the stage show.

The old adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” came to mind frequently while watching this new version of the film, as many of the musical numbers unfolded. There was much that was bigger, (‘The Dance at the Gym’ and ‘America’ in particular) but by no means better, both lacking the sheer fire and excitement of the original film.

Then there were complete misfires in the shape of ‘The Prologue’ -which seemed to veer half-heartedly between the full-blown, precise choreography of the original and conventional action sequences- and ‘Cool’. The latter in particular -in the 1961 original- is probably the most spectacular dance sequence ever committed to celluloid, whereas in the remake it was something of a limp lettuce in comparison to the original, again with the new choreography coming across as decidedly weak and half hearted in much the same way as ‘The Prologue’.

Then we have the acting performances, none of which were bad, per se, but which when viewed in comparison to the original, particularly in the portrayals of the secondary leads of Anita and Bernardo were decidedly lacking.

In the original film Rita Moreno and George Chakiris in those roles, literally stole the show from the leads and both deservedly scooped Best Supporting Actor and Actress Oscars, whereas their opposite numbers in the remake, while perfectly adequate, failed to spark or generate anywhere near the on-screen fire of Moreno and Chakiris.

Fire; there’s that word again.

Likewise many of the supporting cast were virtually anonymous. In the original stage show and film, many of the gang members were clearly defined with distinctive personalties, particularly The Jets, with memorable characters like Action, Ice, A-Rab, etc, each having clearly defined personalities with memorable moments and performances in the film, whereas in the remake, they were totally anonymous and indeed I’d be hard pressed to identify any of the aforementioned without another viewing of the film.

Of the leads in the 1961 original, probably the most unimpressive performance (not bad, but unimpressive in comparison to other cast members) was Richard Beymer as Tony, however his performance positively sparkles and electrifies compared to Ansel Elgort in the remake, who virtually sleepwalks through the role. Of all the performers only Rachel Zegler as Maria comes close to giving Natalie Wood a run for her money in the role.

If you’ve never seen the 1961 film (or the stage show), then Spielberg's remake will pass a few entertaining hours, but unfortunately in comparison the stone-cold classic that is the original, the remake comes across as a (albeit visually impressive) poor second.

The only emotion this engendered in me was a burning desire to watch the original yet again, which I will be doing tonight. Indeed if you’re totally unfamiliar with ‘West Side Story’ watch the original first, which may prompt you to view the remake. However, if you view the remake first, I fear it may not inspire you to check out the original.

File this one under totally unnecessary remake and lower tier Spielberg.

I'm also a ridiculous fan of the original, but not watched this one yet. No doubt I will, but with some apprehension.

Thanks for the detailed review.
 

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