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Seeing Steven Spielberg’s long-awaited update of West Side Story was an interesting experience. First of all, the people in front of us STAYED eating. Honestly we were mostly just jealous; it wasn’t as distracting as it could have been. The real interesting thing was how split our group was on the movie itself.
The people for whom this movie is for loved it. So Wil and Rachel, especially Rachel, really enjoyed it. With good reason. Not only is it a great re-telling of Sondheim’s classic, but it’s beautiful to look at. Even though Will and Kristin didn’t have quite as good a time, there’s no denying the mastery of the craft on display here. But for the latter pair, who aren’t particularly enthused by either musicals or the Romeo and Juliet framework, it didn’t quite work as well.
But as I said, any dislike is mostly down to personal tastes, NOT quality. Ansel Elgort notwithstanding, the movie has no glaring flaws, is full of obvious intention in the filmmaking, and moves at a pretty good pace despite it being what we all agree is a too-long 2 hours and 36 minutes. The long and short of it is, we recommend it for anyone who likes musicals and isn’t put off by the Romeo and Juliet of it all.
What did you think of West Side Story? Is it an instant classic, or is it another phone-in from Spielberg? Let us know over on Twitter or in the YouTube comments! We’re trying to push to 2,000 subscribers and we’re getting close! Head on over and help us out! For now though, stay cool boy, and settle in for TOOONIIIIIIIGHT’s episode of So…I’m Watching This Show!
