“Just because it’s a musical doesn’t stop Spielberg from being a masterful filmmaker.”
West Side Story was released in 2021, directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second feature-length adaptation of the 1957 stage musical. It is also a retelling of the Shakespeare story Romeo & Juliet. In this film, we focus in on two street gangs, both alike in dignity, in fair New York City where we lay our scene. Ansel Elgort portrays our Romeo of the story, Tony, who falls for Maria, played by Rachel Zegler in her feature film debut. Maria represents the Sharks, the Puerto Rican gang, while Tony represents the Jets, the American gang. All they want is to love one another and live in peace, but their families, being bitter rivals, plan a brawl later on in the day... and things like this usually end with bodies.
So, with West Side Story, my journey through Spielberg films is now complete. You can go back and see my review for every Spielberg film on my channel if you want. Soon enough I’ll be watching Disclosure Day and I might even throw together a ranking video, but I’m kinda glad I finished up on West Side Story. Spoiler alert: as my ranking stands right now, West Side Story is among my list’s Top 10 Spielberg films.
This is a good time. It is authentically 60s. The moment you turn the movie on, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. The aesthetic, the camera used, the set designs... it feels very much like a film that would have been made back in the day. Not only that, but you can replicate cameras. You can replicate sets, but one thing that’s a bit harder to copy these days is directing style. There was a way movies were made back then that I haven’t seen a director emulate for a very long time, and West Side Story does it perfectly. Also, something about the performances of everyone in this film feels very much like the energy and snappy, go-getter stage acting that you would often get with older films. I almost had to double-check that I was watching the correct version of the movie. Sure enough, this film can be found currently on Disney+, and there’s no doubt about it... Spielberg has a real love for the film.
Speaking of Spielberg, this film marks his first foray into musical films, and you could have fooled me. He approaches the craft as if he’s directed hundreds of musicals and this is just... another one. It is put together so well. You just don’t get this level of devotion into musicals anymore. Not from directors. Not from performers. Not from the dance choreography. Holy crap, the choreography! I can’t not praise this. It was very impressive from beginning to end, and they had a huge task in front of them. They had to get these gang members to jump and twirl gracefully while looking like a threat. Sometimes it’s silly, but only if you think about it too much. It fits the mold of the film extremely well and becomes what I consider to be an instant classic. Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the lyrics for the original stage play, saw the film days before he died and said he preferred this version over the original. Even though that’s controversial, I understand why. Just because it’s a musical doesn’t stop Spielberg from being a masterful filmmaker. Having his name behind ANY musical would probably elevate it to some degree. This is one of the best musicals in the last decade by a clear mile.
Sometimes, Spielberg does this thing where he either makes me fight back tears or get misty-eyed. I will say this didn’t quite make me cry, but I was constantly covered in goosebumps. I have very little to complain about.
Ansel Elgort is great. Rachel Zegler is great. I don’t know if I fully buy into their chemistry, since that part of the story is very rushed, but through the beautiful cinematography, pristine soundtrack, and jaw-dropping choreography, you end up really pulled into the story and their love in a way I just don’t think you would if it weren’t a musical. Obviously, if it weren’t a musical, it would just be Romeo & Juliet... but I don’t know... I think it goes a little bit deeper than that. Because it gets pretty deep when it comes to racism during a time where people can watch this and understand and relate with it. Romeo & Juliet is simply a classic yet tragic love story with two families that hate each other. This story, even though it is a musical, is quite a bit more grounded in reality.
I really don’t have anything to complain about with this film. Any and all negatives that I’ve compiled really came down to minor, trivial things that aren’t worth noting. Simply moments in the film that aren’t technically perfect, but also not technically bad. Boring stuff like that. Let’s go ahead and look at my end score.
Technical/Unbiased Score: 46/50 (92%)
Biased or Entertainment Score: 47/50 (94%)
Total Overall Score: 93/100 (93%) or 4.5/5 on Letterboxd