Movie Review: West Side Story

 Movie: West Side Story (2021)

The Cinema: Hoyts Victoria Gardens

Stars: 4

I walked into this thinking,'Why would they want to mess with something which was already wonderful?' I was also wondering if Stephen Sondheim would be rolling in his freshly dug grave. 

But I should not have worried too much. For once, this remake is as good, in ways better than the original. 

West Side Story, for those who have never seen it, is re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, set in the 1950s in New York. Gone are the Capulets and the Montagues, and bring on the Sharks and the Jets. The Jets are a gang of Irish / Polish  street kids, the Shark are made up of fresh off the boat Latino kids, mainly of Puerto Rican persuasion. They really don't like each other, forever fighthing for turf of what now stands as the Lincoln Centre in New York. 

There was plenty to keep me occupied with this film. First of all, it remains faithful to the original - not that I've seen the original in many years, but I know the music like the back of my hand. The script has had some updates thanks to Tony Kuschner of Angels in America fame (and if you haven't seen the television version of this, please do yourself a favour). Leonard Bernstein's music remains on point and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics have not be messed with for fear of World War III. 

On the great side of things, in this version, the Sharks are all played by Latino actors - not something that happened in 1961, when Natalie Wood played Maria. In this retelling, David Alvarez's Bernardo and Ariana DeBose's Anita were excellent. I wouldn't be surprised if either were nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Newcomer, Rachel Zegler is wonderful as Maria, with a voice, the look and the spunk to pull off the lead role. I wasn't overly convinced about Ansel Elgort's Tony - though is voice and dancing are up to par, he just didn't sit well with me in the other lead role. But as it was pointed out to me, can anybody name the bloke who played Tony in the original movie? 

Other stand outs for me was Rita Moreno's Valentina. She won the Best Supporting Oscar as Anita over fifty years ago - the first Hispanic actor to get that nod. This gives a wonderful link back to the original film. 

Iris Menas's Anybodys and Mike Faist's Riff were also excellent. 

Steven Speilberg's direction is assured and the sets and cinamatography are excellent - in that regard, no not a wrong foot has been set. 

I say go see this. It is wonderful. I'm not a lover of musicals, but this is done so well. 

It's a great film for which you can take your Mum as a treat. 

It's there to be savoured and enjoyed. It also sets right the wrongs of the 1961 version which would never have been considered at the time. 

Today's song: