West Side Story (2021)

I had mixed feelings about the original West Side Story. So, I was hoping Speilberg would fix the flaws and improve it. And... he didn't. In fact, Speilberg hews so closely to the original movie in terms of story and song, you wonder why he bothered. Even the movie's run-times: 153 minutes v. 156 minutes are similar. And why remake the story and keep it in the 1950s?

On the plus side: the actors fit their parts better, we hear the Puerto Ricans speak Spanish, the setting and dialogue is more realistic, and the minor actors are better cast. Thank God, the cornball Jewish store owner got replaced! And since its Speilberg directing, the action scenes are more exciting and less phony.

But that's about it. The dancing isn't better, its usually worse. Songs? No significant improvement. "Cool" and "The Jet Song" , my two favorites from the original, were much worse. The love story between Maria and Tony which seemed fake and sugary in the 1961 original is still fake and sugary..

Summary:   An uneccessary remake that neither improves the original nor significantly updates it.  And who was supposed to be the target audience - Hispanics who like Lenny Bernstein?  Its puzzling. Anyway, if you want to see one West Side Story movie, this isn't it.  See the '61 version.