Review: WEST SIDE STORY, 20th Century Studios

Photo credit: 20th Century Studios

Tonighttttttt... Toooooonighttttttt... is the night to finally see Stephen Spielberg's stunning new West Side Story as it explodes onto the big screen in all its classical glory!

Besties, as we write this review, we've just come out of a screening of the film and are going to struggle to put into words the standard of pure cinematic perfection that this film has achieved. Every single frame, from start to finish, has been so carefully and lovingly crafted, only ever enhancing the original film we all love so much.

Although we have seen movie musicals increase in quality this year from the likes of Jon M. Chu (In The Heights) and Lin Manuel Miranda (Tick Tick Boom), perhaps the only director up to the task of elevating West Side Story is Stephen Spielberg. Simply put, the film is one cohesive work of art; the vision, the momentum, the scale of this project is so immense and to helm this juggernaut of a picture deserves the most praise. We are able to see the theatrical influences within every choice made in blocking, framing, *everything*. It's also incredibly refreshing to see a cast that isn't focused on showing off the "biggest name" in the film but is instead driven by talented triple threats through and through...

Most changes made to the piece have been done to bring the musical into 2021; the cast are authentically Latinx, dialogue is delivered in a non-subtitled mix of Spanish and English when appropriate and there is new inclusion of a trans character's narrative. Again, all of these only work to elevate an already classic musical by Stephen Sondheim (may his memory be a blessing) and Leonard Bernstein. It makes incredible strides in righting wrongs within the original 1961 movie.

But Spielberg is only the tip of the iceberg as the incredible cast and creative team have worked together to ensure that every aspect of the project is at the top of its game. The subtle colour palettes within Tony Winner Paul Tazewell's costumes. the immense scale of production design from Adam Stockhausen, cinematography by Janusz Kaminski, all tell a story with every shot... It all comes together in the most satisfying way and once you add the following electric cast to the mix, art is made.

The stand out for us is Arianna Debose. Expect to see her in *so* much more in the future as her performance as Anita commands the screen. She is clearly at the top of her game in every discipline; singing, dancing and acting, never missing a single beat and steering her character's story with such power and assertiveness. This is on display most in ‘America’, which earned a round of applause in our screening as her and the cast's infectious energy explodes out of the screen.

We also greatly welcome newcomer Rachel Zegler to the musical theatre canon as her Maria is entrancing, and truly takes both her acting and vocal ranges to the extreme. She has excellent romantic chemistry with Ansel Elgort's Tony and holds her own in her solo scenes. We look forward to seeing her in many more projects to come (cough, cough, Snow White!)

Playing the two gang leaders, Mike Faist (Riff) and David Alvarez (Bernardo) manage to carry and build tension in any scene they share. Even when the scenes are heightened by dancing and choreography, the threatening nature of these characters is never lost and is able to be felt by everyone in the cinema screen. The two are brilliant foils to one another.

We would also like to make a tribute to Stephen Sondheim here, as even though he is no longer with us, his influence is felt in every lyric of this musical. We are reminded that with a remake such as this, his legacy will live on for a new generation of musical fans and for further generations evermore. His impact on theatre and music in general will forever be impossible to ignore.

Besties, we could continue going on and on about every single member of this fantastic creative team and cast, but we think that now it's just best that you go out and see this work of art for yourselves, and see it on the biggest screen you possibly can. It was always going to be five stars from us, but we never anticipated just how much we'd want to add another five stars onto that!

***** Five stars

Reviewed by: Callum Wallace

West Side Story is showing in cinemas now.