Steven Spielberg’s ‘West Side Story’ Is Big-Screen Spectacle at Its Finest

There’s any number of reasons to be skeptical about Steven Spielberg’s new imagining of West Side Story, the classic Broadway musical from 1957 (with songwriting from Stephen Sondheim, who passed away recently), also adapted into a beloved 1961 film revered as one of the greatest movie musicals ever made. That alone is cause for concern; why mess with a classic? There’s also the exhausting recent Hollywood trend of a never-ending sea of remakes and reboots and sequels and prequels, to the point where almost every beloved property one can think of will eventually be resurrected from the dead. It’s understandable that a viewer could enter Spielberg’s new take on the material with the pervading question: “why?”. Why should this exist? And yet, from the opening moments of the film, an answer is quickly provided.

Why not, when it’s this fresh and thrilling and exhilarating to watch?

To go back to those opening moments, Spielberg’s film begins with the image of a wrecking ball, hovering over the remains of the tenements of 1950s Upper West Side, a result of gentrification in New York City. From these remains, members of the Jets gang emerge, snapping their fingers

as they stroll through their territory, occasionally bursting into a twirl or a slide as they move. And Spielberg’s camera—aided by longtime DP Janusz Kaminski—glides along with them, matching their kinetic movements. Already, we have a sense of what’s driving this new West Side Story; a certain youthful energy and exuberance, the unpredictability that comes with that youth, and a portrait of a city in a time of change. “Something’s coming, I don’t know what it is, but it’s gonna be great”, sings lead character Tony (Ansel Elgort) in a musical number a few scenes later. That unpredictability defines West Side Story, whether it’s the spontaneity with

which characters burst into song, or the tumult of teen romance, or the violence of a turf war between rival gangs.

And Spielberg’s direction matches that kineticism, with the musical numbers being staged so elaborately and intricately that it’s astonishing to watch. Spielberg is a filmmaker who’s easy to take for granted, given the sheer ubiquity and pop-culture iconography of several of his films (as well as his hit-or-miss repertoire), but when he’s operating at the peak of his powers, it’s a reminder that there are very few filmmakers that can match his natural talent. He has a gift for crafting indelible moments and sequences, with perfect blocking and a calculated precision to the imagery. Spielberg has mentioned before that he’s wanted to make a musical for decades, and his keen eye for visual craftsmanship is a natural fit for the genre. So many of the sequences in West Side Story are so breathtakingly composed that it’s a genuine shock he hasn’t made a musical before this. Additionally, the vibrancy of the colors and the loving recreation of a bygone New York City render this an effective throwback to classic, golden-age Hollywood filmmaking, the time in which the 1961 film was released. Spielberg combines these classical sensibilities with a modern flair to create something unique and invigorating.

However, there’s undeniably a weak link to West Side Story—Elgort’s casting in the lead role. His performance lacks the necessary charisma to really fit the role, coming across instead as wooden and blank. His shortcomings especially stand out when pitted against the excellent work of his co-stars; Spielberg stacks the cast with actors who have backgrounds in musical theatre but are unknown in film, which yields wonderful breakout performances as a result. Rachel Zegler, Mike Faist, and Ariana DeBose in particular give star-making performances here; even though they may be newcomers to film, their work is so confident and assured that it’s a wonder they haven’t been doing this for years. Additionally, Rita Moreno returns from the 1961 film (although playing a different character, obviously), and she’s given one of the film’s most memorable scenes. Elgort’s presence is ultimately the one element holding West Side Story back from greatness, as he never rises to the level of everyone else he’s working with.

But regardless, West Side Story is a true-blue movie spectacle the likes of which rarely show up these days, and demands to be seen on the big screen. Almost all of the sequences in the film come across as almost effortless, despite their intricate and complex staging, and serve as a reminder that Spielberg can still be a master of his craft even after five decades of making movies.