Spoilers contained within.
The other West Side Story threads have been filled with WSS bickering. Some pro, some against that all had one thing in common. None of us had seen the movie. I was very pro. Just so you're aware of where I approached the movie from.
First off, my humble apologies to Miss Natalie Wood. One of my standard lines about the notion of a remake was that the original was a flawed masterpiece, and that two of the main flaws were the leads. And while I still believe Richard Beymer's Tony left something to be desired, I now realize that Natalie Wood's Maria was quite good. Rachel Zegler was, for me, serviceable. Lovely voice, for sure. The thing is, I've seen the 1961 WSS at least a dozen times, and every time, the final scene makes me tear up. Tonight, when Zegler did it, I wasn't even close. There wasn't a wet eye in the house. Plus, Wood just had an undeniable star quality that Zegler lacks.
However low it bar it was, Ansel Elgort was an improvement on Beymer. Let's face it, playing Tony was always something of a thankless task. And in 2021 it is very difficult for any actor to pull off convincingly. For me, Elgot was quite good. More than decent singing voice, and I find him quite hot. He's got full dick suckin' lips, brah.
Mike Faist was a fantastic Riff. I loved Tony Kushner filling out his backstory a bit. This Riff is clearly troubled. He's an excellent dancer. Ariana DeBose and David Alvarez were both wonderful as Anita and Bernardo. No complaints about those supporting performances.
As for Rita Moreno, it was ALL about the novelty of seeing a spry 88 year old woman in a remake of a movie she originally did 50 years ago. I'd heard beforehand that she sang Somewhere in the movie, but as I was watching the poignancy of her singing it suddenly hit me. The things the characters were longing for, the problems that existed when the song was sung in the 1961 version when Rita was 30 are still here. They have not been solved in Rita's long life time. The tears that didn't come later in the movie came upon that realization.
For me, the biggest issue was the choreography. When you see Jerry Robbin's original, it honestly for me still feels fresh, exciting and vibrant. Anything else can't help but be "eh." Justin Peck's steps might be very good, but I can't even judge it. Watching WSS without Jerry Robbin's choreography is like kissing your sister. Or brother. It was a major misstep on Spielberg's part to discard it. Honestly, I would've liked the movie much more had he used it for most numbers.
I didn't like how they moved the songs at all. Cool or Krupke work just fine after Riff and Nardo are killed as is done in the 1961 movie and the stage play respectively. To put both before the rumble deprives the second half of something. I don't know, it just didn't work.
The biggest shock of the movie was when Tony started singing Cool (!) That was one Spielberg change that really did work for me, and one place where I'm ok with the new dance steps. This scene was edgy. It popped. The Rumble was very well staged as well. Another scene where I was ok with scrapping the original dance steps. A surprise change that worked.
All this said, I still am very glad this movie was made because I think it will absolutely expose younger people to the work of Sondheim and Bernstein. And there was some beautiful cinematography.
Bottom line: While containing some improvements, and fun surprises, the 1961 West Side Story is still the one to watch. Still, the remake was a worthwhile endeavor, and I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the show, or the music.