Film Reviews for Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" remake.

[Emily]

Reviews are coming in for Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story" and they are very positive.
That's quite an accomplishment because the original 1962 "West Side Story" won 10 oscars, including Best Picture.

Rottentomatoes: 96
Metacritic: 85

San Francisco Chronicle - 5 out of 5

The big news about Steven Spielberg's West Side Story is that it's a magnificent movie, even by Spielberg standards and even by "West Side Story" standards.

Empire - 10 out of 10

But it's Spielberg who is the MVP. He keeps the expressionist colours and bold shapes of the '61 film but opens out the stage to the real world, mixing showy shots, like the stretching shadows of the Jets and Sharks meeting on a battlefield, and lived-in communities, like the giant street party that is 'America', without losing sight of the emotion. Let's hope this is the first and not the only Spielberg musical.

Time - 9 out of 10

Like many—or at least many people vocal on social media—I was a doubter: I had no idea I needed this West Side Story until I saw it. This, possibly, is the best kind of movie, the stealth achievement that has been hiding in plain sight all along. Spielberg is one of the great filmmakers of our time, but he's also one of our most affectionate, a designation that might turn out to be more important in the long run. His vision, and his knack for transferring it to the screen, is formidable. And while he sometimes falls prey to sentimentality, there are worse sins in the grand scheme of a career. There is perhaps no one better at working out the technical angles of creating an illusion; even in his failures, he never comes off as a lever-pusher, like Christopher Nolan, or a mischievous bomb-thrower, like Quentin Tarantino. Like his contemporary Martin Scorsese, he's so old school that he practically is the school.

The Hollywood Reporter - 9 out of 10

While many wondered about Spielberg's chutzpah in tackling a movie musical widely regarded as an ageless classic, his richly satisfying remake gives this version a resplendent life of its own.

Variety - 8 out of 10

"West Side Story" is a bursting, live-wire pageant of a movie. I just wish it had a final act that soared instead of lumbering to what feels like an overly determined message-movie landing.

Entertainment Weekly - Grade: A-

No matter how poignant or pointedly reworked, West Side Story is still high Hollywood fantasy: Where else outside of a sound stage can turf wars be resolved with a warbled melody and a kick-ball-change? But it feels like a rare achievement to even attempt to scale the unscalable and still, after more than half a century, be able to make it sing.

IndieWire - Grade: B+

It's a wonderful musical, and an unabashed Steven Spielberg movie. And the moments in which it most comfortably allows itself to be both of those things at once leave you convinced that some harmonies are worth waiting for, even if it seems like they've been always been around the corner and whistling down the river.

IGN - 9 out of 10

Not everything works in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story — how could it, when the 1961 classic is nigh unimpeachable? — but his visual translation of some of the original's latent ideas makes it a complementary piece. At once rougher and more dazzling, it has tremendous high points that seldom overlap with its predecessor, resulting in a remake that feels both hyper-charged and wholly justified. A true thing of beauty.

BBC - 5 stars out of 5

Directed by Steven Spielberg at his most masterful, with a smartly-conceived screenplay by Tony Kushner and crisp new choreography by Justin Peck, the film honours the production's roots while giving it a 21st-Century sensibility. Full of energy, wit, passion and tragedy, looking backward and forward at once, it is one of the most moving films of the year.

The Guardian - 5 stars out of 5

Steven Spielberg's West Side Story 2.0 is an ecstatic act of ancestor-worship: a vividly dreamed, cunningly modified and visually staggering revival. No one but Spielberg could have brought it off, creating a movie in which Leonard Bernstein's score and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics blaze out with fierce new clarity.

Telegraph - 5 out of 5 stars

There’s no need for Spielberg and Kushner to tease out topicality here. Aspects of West Side Story feel as pertinent today as they must have done on its 1957 Broadway debut. But relevance is easy: timelessness is the real artistic feat. And Spielberg has magnificently pulled it off.

Time Out - Rating: 5 out of 5

There's a substrata of genius-level artists at work here: from Spielberg himself, who delivers his best film in nearly 20 years, to the late, great Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Robbins ,Leonard Bernstein and William Shakespeare -- and you can really feel it.

 

[Dragoncaine]

Yeah, this is 100% getting nominated for Picture and Director. I fully expect West Side Story to have the highest tally the morning of Oscar nominations. Already got my tickets for opening weekend.

Several reviews I've read say it's Spielberg's best in decades.

Speaking of Oscar contenders, I just watched The Power of the Dog last night on Netflix, and while it's a deliberate, patient watch, I was floored by the end. If you haven't seen it yet and like being challenged by the films you watch, I highly recommend it. It demands your attention, and contains my favorite Benedict Cumberbatch performance ever!

 

[Deleted member 2]

Damn, thise are some unexpectedly positive reviews. This just became a must see for me.

 

[Amadeus]

The reviews are super positive for what I read but Ansel Elgort has been accused of sexualy assaulting a minor and I can't support that.

 

[Emily]

Yeah, this is 100% getting nominated for Picture and Director. I fully expect West Side Story to have the highest tally the morning of Oscar nominations. Already got my tickets for opening weekend.

Several reviews I've read say it's Spielberg's best in decades.

Speaking of Oscar contenders, I just watched The Power of the Dog last night on Netflix, and while it's a deliberate, patient watch, I was floored by the end. If you haven't seen it yet and like being challenged by the films you watch, I highly recommend it. It demands your attention, and contains my favorite Benedict Cumberbatch performance ever!

From a historical perspective, it would be impressive if Rita Moreno won another Oscar for West Side Story.

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/rita-moreno-west-side-story-remake-oscars-history-1235122144/

There’s incredible history to be made if the buzz is replicated and embraced throughout the awards season. Rita Moreno became the first, and still, only Latina to ever win an acting Oscar for the 1961 original version as Anita, and she could be welcomed back into the fold, now as the newly created character Valentina, with the remake.

A nomination for Moreno would not just be groundbreaking, but record-shattering. If nominated on Feb. 8, Moreno will be 90 years old (her birthday is Dec. 11), which would make her the oldest nominee, of any competitive Oscar in history, surpassing documentary feature nominee Agnès Varda, who was 89 when she was nominated for “Faces Places” (2017). If she manages to win, she’ll surpass screenwriter James Ivory, who coincidentally won adapted screenplay for “Call Me by Your Name” the same year as Varda’s nom.

Moreno would also be the first actor to win for a new role within a remake of a film that she previously won an award. She would also be the first Latina actress to be nominated twice.

Lastly, and most importantly, Katharine Hepburn also holds the record for the longest time span between first and last Oscar nominations, at 48 years apart. Moreno would destroy the stat at 60 years. She’d also break Henry Fonda’s record of 41 years between acting noms.

 

[Dragoncaine]

The reviews are super positive for what I read but Ansel Elgort has been accused of sexualy assaulting a minor and I can't support that.

I hate Ansel Elgort. Disgusting behavior.

I'm trying to reconcile that I'm supporting my fellow crewmates in our industry, as well as the amazing Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno, and Rachel Zegler among others, but it's been difficult.

 

[samouraï]

I would watch any of Spielberg's films day one but Elgort being the lead really kills the mood for me lol

 

[Rhisiart]

As a big musical theater nerd, I've been highly anticipating this movie. It especially feels poingant and important given Sondheim's recent passing. I'm so excited to see such glowing praise, I hope it does well. In The Heights was equally lauded but it seemed to have sadly come and gone despite how good it was. I'm simply pretending Ansel doesn't exist. He's a terrible person who did a terrible thing, but there was no way to ever erase him out of the movie. This will be a star-making vehicle for Rachel and Ariana and I get to see Rita Moreno back on the silver screen, that's all that matters to me.

 

[Weebos]

Damn, I love West Side Story but I didn't expect this to get rave reviews. Awesome, will have to check it out.

 

[Pagan]

I mean it's not Cats. That's a plus.

 

[Deleted member 645]

Not for me but for those that want this type of movie. I guess go see it.

 

[chocolate_supra]

Just got back from seeing it. That was some of the best cinematography I've seen in a long time. Surprisingly kinetic, and uses depth and motion in really fun ways. And the colors, good lord.

Also Rachel Zegler should be in all the things now.