In 1961, the classic Broadway musical “West Side Story” was brought to the big screen by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, winning 10 Academy Awards and has gone down as one of the greatest movies of all time. Steven Spielberg manages to pull off the impossible and creates a remake that proves superior to the original classic. Using the elements happening today, mainly immigration within the Puerto Rican community while also staying faithful to the source material, Steven Spielberg’s take is not only a love letter to the classic musical. Still, it serves as a love letter to the country of Puerto Rico. Despite not being the best singer in the film, Ansel Elgort gives an excellent performance as Tony. Newcomer Rachel Zegler gives a phenomenal performance as Maria, and her chemistry with Elgort is beautiful as time itself. Ariana DeBose delivers a show-stopping performance as Anita and is as good as when Rita Moreno played Anita back in 1961. Returning to the film that made her famous back in 1961, Rita Moreno is fantastic as new character Valentina and hearing Moreno sing at 90 years old is like hearing the voice of an angel. Also turning in great performances are Mike Faist as Jets leader Riff and David Alvarez as Sharks leader Bernardo. “West Side Story” is a film that deserves to be in the conversation when asked if the remake is better than the original because it truly is superior to the classic best picture winning film. Thanks to Steven Spielberg’s masterful direction, incredible music, powerful themes, and fantastic performances by Elgort, Zegler, DeBose, Faist, Alvarez, and Moreno, “West Side Story” is an absolute masterpiece and Steven Spielberg’s best film since 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan.”
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