Diane Campbell

I loved Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story. In my opinion, he did a better job developing the characters and plot than the original movie. Spielberg kept to the original story, setting and characters; I was so pleased to see that. The characters are complex and Spielberg successfully shows the viewer a glimpse of their lives. The casting was superb, a young and incredibly talented cast. Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler were perfect as the young and doomed couple. However, the dance scenes for me were the weakest part of the movie. The best dance scene was “I Want to Live in America”. Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez made that scene by far. The best dance scene in the movie because of their strong training, both are classically trained in ballet. For me, the original dance scenes of the 1961 version with Rita Moreno at the helm, partnered with George Chakiris as Bernardo were unmatched. Russ Tamblyn’s athleticism as Riff was perfection and cannot be beaten. Jerome Robbins’ choreography was made for those dance monsters. Utter perfection. Justin Peck did an outstanding job but did not surpass Jerome Robbins’ work. A fantastic interpretation and worth going to see.