Donald Holland

It is impossible to not compare Stephen Spielberg’s 2021 version with the 1961 version directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise. Where the 1961 version won ten Oscars, the 2021 version sadly won only one. The primary reason for this is that Stephen Spielberg lost the vision of the original, giving us a weak and watered down version with no direction. The original West Side Story is primarily about conflict, conflict between the rival gangs, as well as conflict between the women and men in the Sharks. These conflicts are portrayed in a very raw and biting manner. Spielberg waters these down, eliminating the conflicts. Thus his movie is about something else, and it is hard to tell what that it is. Perhaps it’s the romance? However, the final song, Somewhere (Finale) is not performed by Tony and Maria, but inexplicably by Rita Moreno. That decision is baffling, as the final song is meant to be a farewell between the two as their love is lost to the conflict between the rival gangs. There are a few bright spots, Ariana DeBose as Anita deservedly received the only Oscar. Her performance was brilliant. The choreography is very good and that’s about it for the good. Rachel Zegler as Maria has a tremendous voice, but is not so great at acting. Tony, played by Ansel Elgrort cannot sing or act or dance for that matter. Overall the movie is bad. If you need a West Side Story fix watch the original, again.