West Side Story – Movie Review
156 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Tony Kushner
Directed by Steven Spielberg
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, enjoy this brief look at my thoughts. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
An updated version of the 1961 film, itself based on the classic 1957 Broadway production (itself based on the classic Romeo and Juliet): Two teenagers from different ethnic backgrounds fall in love in 1950s New York City.
I don’t know how to type a “blowing through my lips” sound, but I think it looks something like this: pbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbpbp.
Where to begin?
I’ve made it no secret that I didn’t understand why anyone needed to remake what is considered by many fans of movie musicals (of which, we have established, I am not generally one) to be perfect.
I mean, 10 Oscars can’t be wrong, right?
Well, Spielberg decided he needed to do something he hadn’t done before, and he picked this one to do.
Opening with scenes of NYC being torn down to make way for Lincoln Center, we see the Jets and Sharks, rival gangs battling for territory being quickly eroded in the name of progress.
Tony and Maria, Romeo and Juliet, blah blah blah… you know the story.
There’s a rumble (a word we should bring back, I think), deaths, and revenge.
Oh, and there’s singing and dancing.
A LOT of singing and dancing.
The film is beautifully shot, as Spielberg won’t make a movie that isn’t (even the shaky-cam Saving Private Ryan is beautiful in its chaotic way), and the dance numbers aren’t static; rather, they move our characters, and consequently the story, from location to location throughout the city (with a couple of exceptions: the balcony scene, for example).
Generally, the cast is well-suited to this choreography. Rachel Zegler is being rightly touted as THE discovery of the film, along with Ariana DeBose (in the role made famous by Rita Moreno).
The lone exception to this is Ansel Elgort, whose voice is passable enough but doesn’t really have the punch and power of the rest of the cast, and his dancing is markedly less complex than a lot of the other numbers.
[Note: I don’t dance. At all. Nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.]
Overall, the film is fine. The overall story doesn’t change from the original (or R&J), but this film suffers, in my opinion, from releasing in the shadow of the Netflix film tick, tick… Boom!, which is a far superior musical in my opinion.
But that’s just me. I think it’s a style thing. I’m starting to notice a trend that may indicate that I’m less a fan of “classic” musicals than musicals in general, as I seem to be enjoying many of the more modern styles than I would have expected to.
However, the film is fine, despite the fact that I still don’t know why we needed it–or why Spielberg needed to do it–in the first place.
I mean, it’s not like he needs to prove anything to anyone, right?
I’m sorry I can’t give you any more than that, but perhaps when Ryan and I talk about this one, we’ll get into more detail for you.
West Side Story hits theaters December 10, from Twentieth Century Pictures.
West Side Story stars Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Brian d’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, and Rita Moreno.
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tags: movies, movie review, West Side Story, Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Brian d’Arcy James, Corey Stoll, Rita Moreno, steven Spielberg, tony kushner, musical, broadway