West Side Story 2021 Why The Reviews Are So Positive

West Side Story 2021: Why The Reviews Are So Positive

Steven Spielberg’s take on the musical West Side Story has been getting positive reviews, mostly praising the cast. Let’s take a look.

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West Side Story 2021 Why The Reviews Are So Positive

Steven Spielberg’s latest project is a new take on the acclaimed musical West Side Story, and it’s already getting positive reviews from critics. Musicals continue to be very popular with the audience, and so are their adaptations to the big screen, and with the current remake and reboot trends, some musicals are getting new adaptations, as is the case of West Side Story, conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and which was first adapted to the big screen in 1961.

Inspired by William Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story takes the audience to the 1950s to meet rival street gangs the Jets (a white gang) and the Sharks (from Puerto Rico). Their conflict only grows when Tony (Ansel Elgort), a former Jet, falls in love with Maria (Rachel Zegler), the sister of the Sharks’ leader, Bernardo (David Alvarez). The 1961 version of West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer, is regarded as one of the greatest musical movies ever made, and with Steven Spielberg now on the lead, expectations are high with this new version – and so far, it has been doing great with critics.

After a couple of delays, West Side Story is releasing in theaters on December 10, coinciding with the anniversary of the 1961 movie, and at the time of writing, it has a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes based on 107 reviews. Most praise is going towards Spielberg’s direction, the performances of the cast, and its faithfulness to the original play, and some even find it to be better than the 1961 version. Here’s what some of the positive reviews of West Side Story are saying:

Mashable:

“Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner’s sophisticated adapted screenplay deepens character development and frames the central battle against an ominous backdrop from its first moment. Steven Spielberg is at the top of his game, delivering a musical marvel that is overflowing with emotion and visual splendor. The songs are gorgeous as ever. The dance numbers are astonishing, not only in the talents of their performers but also in a sublime synergy of cinematography and editing that truly relishes in the movement of camera and subject.”

Associated Press:

“Rachel Zegler’s María, Ariana DeBose’s Anita and David Alvarez’s Bernardo are, to remarkable degree, what makes this “West Side Story” sing. And the story, as scripted by Kushsner, is more emotional and complex than ever, fully realizing the “Romeo and Juliet” tragedy while shading the ’50s gang strife with notes of today’s divisions and battles of gentrification.”

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The AV Club:

“Zegler, a YouTube celebrity making her big-screen debut, is radiantly innocent—in her starry-eyed naivete, we can see glimmers of the show’s tragic upshot, a vision of children rushing too fast out of childhood. Ariana DeBose offers a rainbow of conflicting emotions as Sharks moll Anita, her brassy confidence shattering into heartbreak.”

The Wrap:

“Spielberg and Kushner clearly revere that history, but they’re also not intimidated by it; there are any number of instances where viewers can point to this song placement or that bit of character backstory as a new idea that the two have brought to the property, but this is a take on “West Side Story” that’s both reverent and exciting.”

Cinemablend:

“One of Steven Spielberg’s genius touches in West Side Story is primarily casting his ensemble with newcomers. Not recognizing primary characters from other projects and productions serves to beautifully enhance the illusion that audiences are witnessing a window into another era. Obviously it’s a risky proposition to work with talent unproven on the big screen, but the instincts of the filmmakers prove to be phenomenal. This isn’t to say that veterans like Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James and Rita Moreno don’t provide outstanding performances respectively playing Lieutenant Schrank, Officer Krupke, and Valentina (who is a reconceived iteration of the character Doc from the theatrical production/1961 movie), but it’s the fresh faces who own the film.”

When it comes to the performances in Spielberg’s West Side Story, all eyes are going towards Zegler’s María, Ariana DeBose’s Anita, and Mike Faist’s Riff, the leader of the Jets, all of them often credited with being the real heart of the story thanks to the energy and charm they bring to their characters. There’s also a lot of praise towards Rita Moreno and her performance as Valentina, and with that comes a shout out to Spielberg and writer Tony Kushner for not leaving Moreno’s role as a cameo and fan service element (as she famously won an Oscar for her role as Anita in the 1961 version), as they made her part of the story, thus serving as a link between both versions of the musical. Many critics are also pointing out Janusz Kamiński’s cinematography as a strength, which gives West Side Story a more grounded look (in line with Spielberg’s approach to the story) while also evoking the aesthetic of old Hollywood. However, not everything is flawless when it comes to West Side Story, and the main criticism seems to be all about Elgort’s performance, which is also overshadowed by some legal issues he went through during post-production. Here’s what the negative reviews of West Side Story are saying:

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Independent UK:

“On the side of the Jets, the balance in talent certainly doesn’t come from Tony, played onscreen by Ansel Elgort. His presence in the film is already an uncomfortable one, following sexual allegations made against him last year (he’s denied them), but even if you were to judge Elgort’s performance in total isolation, his stilted monotone delivery still falls completely flat when pitched against a cast of energetic, highly expressive theatre professionals.”

Film School Rejects:

“Unfortunately, the casting of this cinematic revival isn’t entirely successful. In fact, some of the casting decisions are among the worst elements of the new adaptation. One in particular even ruins the movie as a whole: Ansel Elgort appears in the lead role of Tony, and he’s lacking in personality, charisma, and expression. He gives the audience nothing to hold onto or care about with the character, and his shortcomings extend to his chemistry with Zegler, which hurts the romantic narrative at the core of West Side Story.”

Little White Lies:

“Yet there’s barely a moment where Elgort doesn’t feel as if he’s waded too far into the deep end, his small, dark eyes adding an air of unnecessary mystery to a character whose heart should literally be there on his sleeve. The earnest simplicity of Tony has been taken for granted, and this feels like a major miscast when it comes to making sure the emotional foundations of this towering story are there, set deep in the ground.”

Even if Elgort’s performance isn’t at the same level as those of the rest of the cast, critics are finding more things to praise about this new take on West Side Story than flaws, though it’s worth noting that a couple of critics are calling it the beginning of the end of Spielberg’s mostly impeccable career – but that, as with every other movie, is something that, ultimately, the audience will decide depending on their own experiences and perception of the story, though it all points at Spielberg’s casting and creative choices being on point and creating a story that will resonate with a diverse audience.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/west-side-story-movie-reviews-good-rotten-tomatoes-good/

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