Best Musical Movie of 2021: West Side Story
IMDB Score: 7.4/10
Letterboxd Score: 3.8/5
My Score: 4.5/5
5 BAFTA Nominations, 2 Wins(Best Supporting Actress, Best Casting)
7 Oscar Nominations including Best Picture, Best Achievement of Directing(TBA on March 28, 2022)
Hi, movie buffs. As we all know that the Academy Awards 2022 is approaching, 2 days left, and most of us are pretty excited about it. Most of you are already done with their award predictions and already selected your favorite movie to support at the Oscars. However, I am not a part of this group and I am still trying to binge watch and write blogs about the movies in Oscars 2022. Today, we’ll talk about Steven Spielberg’s first musical movie West Side Story.
PLOT TWIST: I haven’t watched the original West Side Story(1961) yet. So, instead of comparing these two movies, I’ll just write my opinions about West Side Story(2021).
THERE WON’T BE ANY SPOILERS IN THIS PART
West Side Story is taking place in 1950s New York, Manhattan. In the movie, we’re watching the love story of a Puerto Rican girl(Maria) and a white American boy(Tony). Even though Maria and Tony’s relationship is pretty good with each other, the couple is right between the conflicts of an American Gang(Jets) and a Puerto Rican Gang(Sharks) and we’re observing how these two are struggling to maintain their relationships under this circumstances.
Although the movie seems like telling us a story about just a typical couple who were separated by cleavages of society, the movie is definitely more than that and it really deserves more to talk about.
Even though it was Steven Spielberg’s first musical movie in his career, I can say he did a pretty successful job. The colors, lights, and atmosphere of 1950s New York were legendary. In spite of the fact that the movie was shotted in Hollywood, California, I really loved the atmosphere of New York. Moreover, the costumes were also flawless.
The songs of the movie were also amazing. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting songs as high quality as this. Moreover, I was literally fascinated by the dance scene when the “America” song came up.
Lastly, if you watched or read Romeo and Juliet, it is a high possibility for you to feel the influences of it because the original storyline of the West Side Story is heavily influenced by Romeo and Juliet and contains so many references from it.
SPOILER PART
What I loved about the movie:
To be honest, it is hard for me to mention all the specific things that I loved in the movie. Generally, I really loved the atmosphere, songs, dance scenes, costumes, and casting. Even though most of the actors weren’t played in any musical movies in their careers, casting was so successful that I can’t mention anybody I am not satisfied with.
What I didn’t Like About the Movie:
As I said before, I have no problems with the remake of West Side Story. However, when we were approaching the end of the movie, Tony killed Maria’s brother. After 3 minutes of talking, Maria forgave Tony and they slept together. I can surely say, it was a really interesting scene to watch. However, the problem in the storyline originates from the original West Side Story so I can’t blame Steven Spielberg or any of the writers who worked on the movie. Besides that problem, I don’t have any problems with the movie.
I hope you all enjoyed my movie review. If you liked it, please be free to click the clap button, and don’t forget to share this blog with your friends. I will write a blog after the Oscar ceremony on March 28. So if you want to read my blog about the Oscars, don’t forget to follow me and turn on the notifications.
