Movie review: West Side Story

Ariana DeBose as Anita in Steven Spielberg's remake of classic musical West Side Story. In cinemas now.

In directing his first musical, Steven Spielberg artfully channels the power of West Side Story's iconic songs while texturing the tale with updated cultural depictions.

Previously adapted into a beloved, multi-Oscar-winning 1961 film, the 1957 Broadway musical inspired by Romeo & Juliet takes place in 1950s New York and charts the meeting between Tony (Ansel Elgort), a lapsed member of Polish-American gang The Jets, and Maria (Rachel Zegler), younger sister of Bernardo (David Alvarez), leader of a rival gang of Puerto Pican New Yorkers – who don't appear to be referred to as "The Sharks" in this movie.

Tony and Maria's union causes big problems for their respective affiliations, with Bernardo and Tony's best friend Riff (Mike Faist) spoiling for a big rumble.

The original film featured caucasian actors in brown face portraying Puerto Ricans, with some of those portrayals leaning on dated stereotypes, so part of the rationale for revisiting the musical is to present a more authentic version of the characters. And the film undeniably benefits.

But the impact here still primarily comes from those transcendent songs, quite possibly the best ever written for a musical. I've never been sure if my love for these songs is attributable to my prolonged childhood exposure to them, or simply their inherent beauty and power. I suspect it is the latter.

Although Zegler has distractingly gargantuan pipes, Elgort's singing voice isn't nearly as strong, and the film appears to be edited around his less-than-elegant dancing skills. Luckily, Faist, Alvarez and Ariana DeBose (as Bernado's girlfriend Anita) are all utterly amazing singers and dancers, and uplift the film considerably. The original's iconic choreography is referenced here, but not slavishly so.

The world may not have been demanding a new West Side Story, but there is a swooning, romantic potency here that cannot be denied.

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler
Director: Steven Spielberg
Running time: 156 minutes
Rating: M (Violence)
Verdict: A justfied re-staging of some legendary songs.