WEST SIDE STORY (2021) Review - Did Spielberg Actually Do It?!

[@donnalombardo1135]

I think Ansel elgort and Rachel zegler have more chemistry than Natalie wood and Richard beymer

[@iluvjohnny08]

I did not like the placement of Officer Krupke and did not like that Mike Faist did not sing it like Russ Tamblyn did in the original. He was so good and he should have been in that scene. I respectfully disagree about Ansel Elgort, I thought he was so good in this and his chemistry with Rachel Ziegler was magical.

[@jpalexander292]

My parents grew up during this time and loved the original. My father said in reality the original was like it really is which was not because they did not like Hispanics it was more over keeping your neighborhood. He said the Italians and Irish and Polish and the Jews had the same issues with each other. He said people had their areas and they were not welcome in ours as we were not welcome in theirs. Now they must make it while ramping up that the Jets were racist against the Hispanics when thst was never the intent.

[@janebarry-fraundorf4623]

I agree with a number of this Critic's comments and some of the other comments here, but a number of them, I DEFINITELY disagree with! I thought the 2021 Steven Spielberg Directed Movie version was a BRILLIANT Cinematic MASTERPIECE and in EVERY way!! I thought Ansel Elgort as Tony, was absolutely PHENOMENAL in the Role and was and IS a TRUE Triple threat, (Singing, Dancing AND Acting)! I personally found the Romance between Tony, (Ansel Elgort) and Maria, (Rachel Zegler), sweet, compelling, touching and totally believable and I really thought they had TERRIFIC Chemistry, not to mention their Voices were GORGEOUS and blended PERFECTLY together! I also did NOT see Ansel as looking ridiculously (too) old for Rachel, to be realistic, or believable, either! He has a baby face and I found them comparable, looking several years apart in age, but not 7-10 years or more apart, like some people are claiming! Come on! He looks YOUNG and pulls off this Role BEAUTIFULLY! Rachel is just SUPER young and LOOKS it, so pretty much ANYBODY they partnered her with, WOULD look older, no matter what!

[@AR36-45]

Why would the music and the storyline be changed drastically? Make Tony live at the end? Smh

[@AR36-45]

Also I Feel Pretty is placed in the same place as it's in the original musical. Are you not familiar with the source material?

[@JonInTheory]

No, I Feel Pretty does not come after the rumble in the 1961 movie. I haven't seen the broadway play, so I don't know if it's different, there. But in the original movie, I Feel Pretty happens right after the intermission and is still during the day, hence they changed the lyric in the song from "I pity any girl who isn't me today" to "I pity any girl who isn't me tonight." This whole scene happens in the same place she asks Tony to stop the rumble, so I don't know what you're going on about. As for your first comment, I never said the music and story should be changed drastically. I did say most of the changes are for the better and it makes sense that they wouldn't change much of the story because then you would have to mess with the music too much. So again, I have no idea what you're complaining about.

[@albertorodriguez6287]

Thank you!

[@nickpoliseno279]

YOU'RE OFF ON A LOT OF POINTS YOU MAKE!!!

[@louisefrazier1302]

It was very interesting reading your review. I didn’t agree with all of your criticisms, but it was purely a matter of a difference in opinion. I thought you presented your arguments well. My one quibble is what you said about Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics and changing them without mentioning Sondheim himself or even how or why, you would want them changed when he and Leonard Bernstein collaborated on them so closely and carefully to make the show back in the 1950s. Even though Stephen Sondheim was alive at the time they put the movie together and he was consulted about the movie; without Leonard Bernstein alive to concur, it wouldn’t be West Side Story. The lyrics were made to go with the music, and in my opinion they were and are brilliant, as is the music and created by two geniuses, the likes of which do not come around all that often. Anyway, I agree with you on many points you made. I loved this new version of West Side Story and it is good to see another generation of young people appreciate it so much. I first saw the original movie as a teen and I was in awe. It was and is my favorite musical, and it may well turn out to be as timeless as Shakespeare’s tale of the star crossed lovers. My favorite Stephen Sondheim lyric that gives a nod to the Shakespeare couple is in “Tonight” that talks about how they feel about their love in their surroundings where suddenly the world is “going mad shooting stars into space” Sondheim so beautifully captures that moment and Leonard Bernstein’s music sends it into the stratosphere. Thank you for your commentary.

[@bobbyrobby3600]

1. Good idea to have Rita Morino inserted into the Steven Spielberg script of *West Side Story* 2. Best Actress role for Oscar nomination for Spielberg's version will be Maria (Rachel Zegler) and then Anita (Ariana DeBose) for supporting Oscar nomination. I think Rachel Zegler's acting for Maria, was better than Natalie Wood in Robert's Wise production. 3. Second choice for best supporting actress: Rita Marino. (yes again) 4. I did not like any of the character actors choice for either the Jets or Sharks in this Spielberg version. 5. I did not like the first act of the Spielberg version as much as the Robert Wise version, but the second act of Spielberg's version made up for the 1st act's shortcomings. Spielberg's first act of his movie was too, too, dark. 6. My choice for which movie was better would be the flawless *1st* West Side Story. Robert Wise was the better Director in this for the 1st Movie version of the play. However the second act of Spielberg's version made tears come from my eyes, but don't tell anybody as I don't want my manhood questioned. 7. In the first movie the Jet gang gave respect for the little girl playing on the ground and walked around her play area. In the Spielberg version the Jets ripped up the little girls artwork on the ground. I could not get behind the Jets after that. 8. The dance scenes in both versions were equally good. 9. Spielberg claimed he did not want to copy the first, Robert Wise version, however he did in the opening. In the first, Wise version, we have an aerial shot flying over Manhattan, in Spielberg's version we have an aerial shot flying over the demolished section of the gang area with same intro music. 10. Spielberg's version of West Side Story, should be nominated for *Best Picture* Oscar this year, however from the *WOKE* Hollywood, they might choose another low budget foreign movie made with no whites in it, that nobody will see, for diversity's sake. Then that will remind me of Marxist Korean movie (looked like a college student made film) winning Best Picture over "1917" a real professional movie. And like Spielberg's movie, "Saving Private Ryan" that didn't win Best Picture, which it should have, over that terrible love movie, again, that nobody saw. 11. Why couldn't Spielberg use any other race besides Puerto Rican? That could be termed a racist decision by WOKE Spielberg. High class acting is art, that a great actor that is not a Puerto Rican could pull it off. Spielberg now denies race to play any role unless they are the same race of the character portrayed? This is a slam in the face of all actors. Example, he could have used actors from any South American country as long as they looked Puerto Rican. Come on man! Spielberg trying to be WOKE is a racist to all other promising actors. 13. What was this freak dark character tranny character that used to be a tom boy girl in the Robert Wise motive? We could see in the Robert Wise movie that this was a tom boy girl. However in this movie, we don't know who this scary creature from hell was in Spielberg's version. Spielberg was again trying to be WOKE by picking a tranny freak character from this years 2021 to make todays LGBTQ people happy. That demonic freak character was a bust.

[@AR36-45]

Rachel Zegler and David Alvarez are not Puerto Rican so there goes that point. As for the beginning music being the same, it's the same as the musical, which I've watched twice on Broadway, which is what the movie is adapted from.

[@madeleineshaw5772]

@@AR36-45 YOU missed the point being that regardless of the actors' nationality, in the movie they are Puerto Rican.

[@madeleineshaw5772]

I agree with you that I didn't like any of the Jets or the Sharks. George Chakiris as Bernardo may have been stereotyped and had dark makeup on but he was so guapo (mad crush on him at 11 years old) who cares!!!

[@ndogg20]

WOKE the new net buzz word, usually followed by some contrived senseless argument created by the new era of right-wing Social Justice Warriors who are every bit as annoying and wrong as the old left wing SJW's who scream RACISM when its clear there wasn't any racism. Too many idiot statements to go over in that diatribe, suffice to say that personal opinions are stated as fact in every one of them.

[@bobbyrobby3600]

@@ndogg20 Thank you for your WOKE social justice warrior opinion from the left.

[@madeleineshaw5772]

No chemistry between zegler and Elgort. The dance at the gym scene with them hidden behind bleachers is not credible and awkward. Chino was a glasses wearing unattractive doofuss in remake. in the original he is very authentically portrayed as a shy not unattractive sympathetic character. Remake scene after scene inferior to original. West side story was, is and will always be a masterpiece and perfect.

[@AR36-45]

Right and the brown face and the racist stereotypes from the 1961 movie were especially missed 🙄

[@madeleineshaw5772]

Disagree. The original gave grace and dignity to every single character and tried to show that everyone was equal and no one was better. It uplifted the characters. It is sad that people need to find flaws. And that Spielberg felt the original was deficient in some way. Of the many racist stereotypes and other inferior features that in Spielberg's production I couldn't believe he put Maria, Anita and friends working as cleaning staff in Gimbels!!! Shame on you Steven Spielberg. Did you set out to destroy damage and tarnish a brilliant masterpiece called West Side Story

[@bobbyrobby3600]

@@madeleineshaw5772 I agree I didn't like all the girls working in a department store. Which was ridiculous because you don't need that many employees to clean one floor. Now you know why this movie is losing money big time. The movie cost 100 million and it only made 10 million on the first week, it's an absolute loser.

[@bobbyrobby3600]

Yes I found it awkward the way those two meet in the gym and that love scene behind the bleachers looked stupid and out of place. There was no chemistry of love coming from Tony.

[@madeleineshaw5772]

@@bobbyrobby3600 to me, the scene where Tony and Maria catch each other's eyes in the crowded dance hall is the height of beauty and romance and their little dance duet is delicate and meaningful and sets them apart which is the entire point. Thank you for your reply and the space to answer