Never doubt Señor Spielbergo's union American equivalent. It only took until he was 74, but Steven Spielberg has finally made the musical he's wanted to make for decades. Spielberg's remake of West Side Story is just a couple of short weeks away from dancing its way to theaters, which means it has finally screened for critics, giving us the first reactions to the anticipated musical.
Based on the 1961 Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins film of the same name, itself adapted from Robbins' Broadway production of the play by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim which was inspired by Romeo and Juliet. The film stars Rachel Zegler and Ansel Elgort as lovers on opposite sides of a fiery conflict on the streets of New York City between two street gangs: the Jets, white working-class teens, and the Sharks, Puerto Rican migrants.
Spielberg directs West Side Story from a script by Tony Kushner who also wrote Lincoln for Spielberg. The film is shot by his regular cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, and also stars Ariana DeBose, David Alvarez, Mike Faist, Corey Stoll, Brian d'Arcy James, and Rita Moreno. Spielberg also produces alongside Kristie Macosko Krieger and Kevin McCollum. West Side Story sings its way to theaters on December 10.
Now that we're only two weeks away from the release of the West Side Story remake, it's time to find out what critics and journalists thought of Spielberg's latest. Was this the right story to make as his first foray into musical film? How is the choreography? Who is the standout performer? Is Kamiński about to take home yet another Oscar? Or did Spielberg make another The BFG? Check out some of the early reactions for West Side Story below.
First up, here's what Collider's own Perri Nemiroff, Christina Radish, Matt Goldberg, Carly Lane, and Vinnie Mancuso had to say:
Critics agree that this is a shoe-tapping good time at the movies, and praise that rascal Spielberg for his eye for composition and choreography.