Rebecca Storey

The original film is one of my favorites and this one tops it in nearly every way. The performances are stellar, particularly Mike Faist as Riff. Rachel Zegler has an angelic voice but don't be fooled; her Maria has enough strength and anger to make the character real. While the cast has excellent dancers, the choreography can't quite match that of Jerome Robbins. And for those who are blase about the central premise, recall that it is a 1957 take on Romeo and Juliet. It just happens to have been filmed half a century later.

Overlong, light on action, with a predictable plot and thinly veiled political references.