As I've said before in my previous review of the original West Side Story (1961). I'm not a fan of musicals, it is my least favorite genre and yet I do love two movies in this genre: The Blues Brothers and West Side Story. For some reason I love this movie for all it's nuances and touching moments, even though I find myself sometimes joking and making fun of it.
I've already stated that Spielberg is very much the Picasso of cinema, he has no specific genre, he's not a author, he can make any film from any genre and it would be touching, full of heart and amazing. For a musical, I believe there was no better choice than West Side Story.
The plot is the same as the 1961 version, same setting, time and characters. Maria and Tony's relationship is the center of the story. Surrounding it is the ongoing fight between the Sharks and Jets.
There are a few slight changes to the story that differ from the original: such as Tony serving time in prison, Tony and Maria visiting the museum/church, etc. Little changes like these I find suiting and add more depth to the characters.
The entire cast is fantastic: Ansel Elgort is great and plays so well, Ariana DeBose is powerful and her academy award win is well deserved. The real surprise of the movie though is Rachel Zegler, she is just gorgeous and adorable, For her first movie role she completely nailed it and gave such an emotional performance.
The entire set design of the film is shockingly impressive, Combined with the dances and all the flashing colors. Spielberg and director of photography Janusz Kaminski have done a wonderful job with the lighting. The sequence where Tony and Maria are walking in the museum/church is shown with so many beautiful lights, my favorite moment of the whole movie.
Evan though all the songs are reintroduced in the movie, some of them are in a different order, the song 'Cool' sang by the Jets is placed before the rumble between the gangs. And the song 'I feel Pretty' sang by Maria is placed after the rumble. I don't understand why they did it, but the song seemed unfitting to be placed after a rumble and tragic death of two characters.
In conclusion, I've really enjoyed this movie, I've been waiting a long time to watch it ever since I heard of the film; I'm happy to say it was worth the wait and is such a wonderful remake to a overall really lovable classic.
I've already stated that Spielberg is very much the Picasso of cinema, he has no specific genre, he's not a author, he can make any film from any genre and it would be touching, full of heart and amazing. For a musical, I believe there was no better choice than West Side Story.
The plot is the same as the 1961 version, same setting, time and characters. Maria and Tony's relationship is the center of the story. Surrounding it is the ongoing fight between the Sharks and Jets.
There are a few slight changes to the story that differ from the original: such as Tony serving time in prison, Tony and Maria visiting the museum/church, etc. Little changes like these I find suiting and add more depth to the characters.
The entire cast is fantastic: Ansel Elgort is great and plays so well, Ariana DeBose is powerful and her academy award win is well deserved. The real surprise of the movie though is Rachel Zegler, she is just gorgeous and adorable, For her first movie role she completely nailed it and gave such an emotional performance.
The entire set design of the film is shockingly impressive, Combined with the dances and all the flashing colors. Spielberg and director of photography Janusz Kaminski have done a wonderful job with the lighting. The sequence where Tony and Maria are walking in the museum/church is shown with so many beautiful lights, my favorite moment of the whole movie.
Evan though all the songs are reintroduced in the movie, some of them are in a different order, the song 'Cool' sang by the Jets is placed before the rumble between the gangs. And the song 'I feel Pretty' sang by Maria is placed after the rumble. I don't understand why they did it, but the song seemed unfitting to be placed after a rumble and tragic death of two characters.
In conclusion, I've really enjoyed this movie, I've been waiting a long time to watch it ever since I heard of the film; I'm happy to say it was worth the wait and is such a wonderful remake to a overall really lovable classic.