YMMV / West Side Story (2021)

For the musical, see here.

For the 1961 film, see here.

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• Accidental Aesop: Chino's arc in this film comes across as a very dark cautionary tale about how one should just be themselves. Had he not tried to be someone he's not by getting involved with the gang conflict, he would have never destroyed his promising career prospects and gotten himself arrested.
• Adorkable:
  • Chino is an awkward and stuffy but sweet guy. His goofy moves as he joins the dance at the gym are quite endearing.
  • Tony's immediate unabashed love for María already makes him count in the original. This film doubles down on it as he cheerfully sings about her in front of others, not caring a bit about how weirded out they are by his behavior.
  • María attempting to make it look like she slept in her bed, rather than sleeping in her white dress on top of the covers, is very cute to watch.
  • Anybodys cheerfully dancing without a partner to the side of everyone else at the gym is rather charming.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Are the Sharks really a Vigilante Militia who only engage in gang warfare with the Jets because they want to defend their neighbors? Or are they just angry teenagers looking for an outlet to vent their frustrations with the racism and poor conditions they have to live with in America and consider the Jets to be acceptable targets based on their status and actions? The fact they try to fight the Jets at the dance when all the groups did was bump into each other, mock Tony (who never did anything to them) for trying to make peace with Bernardo at the rumble, as well as Chago's rant to Chino about how Bernardo died for Puerto Rican pride suggests the latter.
  • Anybodys is plenty tough on his own and demonstrates in the police station scene that he's more than capable of protecting himself, but given that he's trans and facing harassment and even violence would be a common occurrence for him, you have to wonder if part of the reason he wants to join the Jets so badly is so he can have some extra protection. If he was in the gang, he may feel safer going about his day-to-day life, since he'd have a whole group of guys who could jump in and back him up if things escalated. The fact that the former co-leader of the Jets, Tony, is one of the few to fully accept him would just add to this.
  • Does Chino want to join the Sharks because he wants to help them with protecting their neighborhood, or does he desire the respect that he believes comes with being a part of the gang? Additionally, is Bernardo blocking him from joining because he really doesn't want Chino to jeopardize his bright future? Or does he recognize that Chino is a Non-Action Guy who isn't cut out to be part of the gang and is trying to spare his feelings by telling him he should focus on school?
  • The reason Riff tells Tony to take Bernardo's switchblade out of his body has been interpreted two ways. One is that Riff realizes his wound is fatal no matter what and he asks Tony to remove the knife so he can die more quickly and painlessly. The other is that Riff wants Tony to use the knife to avenge him, as in the stage version and 1961 film, he passes his own switchblade to Tony just before he dies.
  • Was Bernardo's non-reaction to Tony running up and stabbing him a result of him being in too much shock over the fact he had just killed Riff to react? Or did he he actually want Tony to kill him because he felt so much guilt over killing Riff?
  • Anita's lie that Chino shot María after the Jets attempt to rape her could be for a multitude of reasons. Did she want to get revenge on Tony for Bernardo's murder? Did she want to take revenge on all of the Jets by sending one of their own into life-threatening depression? Did she fear that María might be in for a similar fate if she ran away with him, and this was her misguided attempt to save her? Or was it actually a piece of petty revenge directed at María, who was the one that made her go to Valentina's and thus is partly responsible for the attempted rape?
  • The Jets have their Heel Realization ostensibly after Tony's death and María's subsequent "now I hate" speech. But there's also Valentina's "Reason You Suck" Speech after saving Anita from their attempted rape. Did they regret having done such a thing and are they feeling shame for it too? And since they can physically see María grieving for Tony, they must realise that Anita had lied to them. Did that make them realise that their actions got Tony killed as well? Or is their Heel Realization caused by all of the above?
• Aluminum Christmas Trees:
  • The Egyptian Kings may sound like a gang invented for the film as one of the Jets' recent rivals, but they were an actual street gang that was active in the Upper West Side in the late 1950s.
  • Tony refers to marijuana as "weed," as the synonym did start to be used in the United States in the early 20th Century.
• Award Snub:
  • While the film was nominated for and won a number of awards, Ariana DeBose ended up taking home the film's only Academy Award, despite it receiving seven nominations including Best Picture, which was won by CODA.
  • While Rachel Zegler won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical, this did not translate to the Oscars, where she wasn't even nominated. In a more literal sense, she wasn't even invited to the ceremony initially, though after backlash on social media, she was invited as a presenter.
  • Despite his performance being widely hailed by critics and audiences as one of the best in the film, Mike Faist's only major nomination for the film was at the BAFTA Awards, which he lost to Troy Kotsur in CODA.
  • Rita Moreno was not nominated for her role as Valentina, despite critical acclaim saying that she matched her Oscar-winning role as Anita in the original film.
  • Despite George Chakiris previously winning an Oscar for the same role and playing it to excellent results himself, David Alvarez went ignored throughout the awards season.
  • Tony Kushner's script was shut out at the Oscars despite all the acclaim for his many brilliant alterations and writing dialogue that was regarded as in par with the show's iconic music.
  • Many of the film's technical nominations, such as cinematography, sound, and production design, were won by Dune (2021).
  • Despite the film being acclaimed up and down as his greatest work in years, Steven Spielberg lost Best Director to Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog.
• Base-Breaking Character: Ansel Elgort's performance as Tony is by far the most divisive in the film. Many viewers feel that his singing sounds too autotuned compared to the other actors, most of whom are musical theatre veterans and his dramatic acting moments paled in comparison to castmates, particularly Mike Faist and Ariana DeBose. Others feel that his subdued performance was a good fit for this version of the character's more reflective and introspective nature, his chemistry with Rachel Zegler was impressive, and, at the very least, he still did a better job than Richard Beymer did in the 1961 film adaptation.
• Catharsis Factor: After being bullied by the Jets one time too many, Anybodys' rampage in the police station is downright therapeutic.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Anybodys was already a memorable minor character, but in this version, he's a lot more fleshed out. Not to mention his actor, iris menas^note who prefers not to use capital letters in the name, absolutely owns the role.
• Fanon: Riff's fanon last name is Lortan. And his given name is theorised to have derived from the word 'Riff Raff.'
• Genius Bonus: During "America," a group of Puerto Rican protesters can be seen. One of them holds a sign mentioning Robert Moses, who oversaw New York City's post-war urban development and was responsible for displacing several ethnic communities in favor of his construction projects. Needless to say, Moses remains one of the most controversial figures in New York's history.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: María choosing Tony over Chino comes across as very amusing since Rachel Zegler (María) and Josh Andrés Rivera (Chino) actually began dating after they met on the set.
• Ho Yay:
  • More prevalent between Riff and Tony in this version than in others. Riff is physically affectionate with and emotionally dependent on Tony, and his displeasure at Tony's pulling away from the Jets feels like romantic estrangement, culminating in him accusing Tony of breaking his heart by trying to stop the rumble. Mike Faist, who plays Riff, even referred to their relationship as a love story and jokingly accused María of being "in the way".
  • To a lesser extent, Chino seems to be more interested in Bernardo than he is interested in María. He takes it in stride when she chooses Tony over him and it's only when Tony kills Bernardo that Chino starts to hate him.
• Improved Second Attempt: The original film had white actors in brownface playing the Sharks, so it was refreshing when Spielberg announced he was casting only Latino actors for the roles.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Chino, even more so than before. He starts out as a truly nice guy who isn't involved in the violent gang war. And despite his date with María starting out quite awkward, it looks like things are improving, but it's interrupted when she instead falls instantly in love with Tony. Still, Chino handles this very well, and even shows Tony that he has no hard feelings over this when he works with him to get into the rumble. He very soon regrets that thought when Tony's presence escalates the violence, with the same person he let in to the fight killing his very best friend Bernardo. After this, Chino is left sobbing over Bernardo's body, no doubt blaming himself. And when the deceased's sister is more concerned about his murderer, Chino absolutely snaps and becomes hellbent on avenging Bernardo, with his sweet demeanor overcome with a brutal coldness. He also expresses a fatalistic belief that eventually the white-dominated society will eventually kill them all. After achieving his goal, María's furious speech causes the guy to bawl his eyes out, and shortly after the police arrest him, making all of his hard work studying for a better life a wasted effort.
  • The same goes for Riff. This film makes him a bigger Jerkass than he is in the source material or 1961 film by having him engage in petty crime and bigoted harassment towards the Puerto Ricans. However, the film also makes it clear that Riff is very much a product of his environment. Having grown up in poverty in the slums of Lincoln Square, as well as a having a father who was a criminal himself, the world was "against Riff ever since he was born", in Tony's words. With the Jets and the neighborhood being all he has, it's little wonder why the changes caused by gentrification and new immigrant groups result in him lashing out. And for all his flaws and resentment towards Tony's actions, it's clear he still cares deeply about his friend which makes his death just as tragic as in the other versions.
  • Anybodys is as caustic and ill-tempered as the rest of the Jets, but his trans identity gets him bullied by almost everyone, even by his fellow gang members. You can't help but feel bad for him, as rude as he is.
• Misaimed Fandom: Several viewers take the idea of the Sharks as a Vigilante Militia at face value and praise them as heroes for fighting the Jets. This is despite the fact the film repeatedly deconstructs the idea and portrays their actions as a bad thing, even if the Jets were the primary aggressors in the conflict. Officer Krupke flat out reminds them what they're doing is illegal, Chino is barred from joining the gang specifically because of the dangers, and after Bernardo is killed at the rumble, several of them realize that the fighting accomplished nothing to improve the situation of the Puerto Rican community in the grand scheme of things and they were idiots for getting involved.
• More Popular Replacement: Doc is a well-liked character in the original, but his widow Valentina who takes over his role was a much bigger hit with critics. Reasons included being much more developed and fleshed out, being played perfectly by the legendary Rita Moreno, and her absolutely crushing rendition of "Somewhere".
• Questionable Casting:
  • A few reviewers singled Ansel Elgort out as the weak link in an otherwise acclaimed ensemble, feeling that his singing sounded too autotuned and he stood out in contrast to castmates Mike Faist and Ariana DeBose. Some fans took Steven Spielberg's comments that he was cast based on his work in The Fault in Our Stars to claim that he was only there in the hopes of drawing teenage girls to theatres.
  • Many musical theater fans were confused as to why Spielberg cast Brian d'Arcy James, an award-winning musical theater actor who has been acclaimed for his singing and dancing abilities, as Officer Krupke, one of the only characters in the story who doesn't sing or dance in any numbers.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Maria is considered one of the most vanilla characters in the original version, both stage and film, and was even the subject of a video titled "Why Everybody Hates María". Rachel Zegler's Silk Hiding Steel performance, coupled with her impressive soprano and Tony Kushner's script fleshing the character out to be more modern, vastly improved the character for many.
• Ron the Death Eater: Several viewers have displayed a disturbing lack of empathy for Anita, acting like her lying about Maria's death was done for no reason other than spite and jealousy. In the film itself, she is clearly already traumatised from seeing Bernardo dead and realising his sister sided with his killer. Not only that, she was forced into going to Doc's by Maria, which results in her nearly getting violently raped.
  • Also, some people ignore that Anita was initially going to leave Doc's in peace and only lied about Maria when one of the Jets continued to antagonise her.
• Signature Scene: While the film retains and beautifully renders the story's already iconic scenes — like the Jets' introduction, the balcony duet, and the rumble — Rita Moreno's heartbreaking performance of "Somewhere" is one of the most memorable moments in this version. The gorgeous scene of Tony and María singing "One Hand, One Heart" in The Cloisters is also a popular choice, as the lighting and cinematography distinguishes itself from the same scene in the 1961 film.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Unlike Doc in the original stage musical and 1961 film, Valentina's screen-time with the Jets aside from Riff is rather limited, as she only interacts with them onscreen after they nearly rape Anita and she gives them a brief "The Reason You Suck" Speech. Many have noted it would've been nice to have more scenes with the two parties and explore how the gang treats her as a Bigotry Exception in more detail.
• Uncertain Audience: Regardless of who the director is and the execution, a remake of a decades-old Best Picture winner was always going to face an uphill battle financially when older audiences would presumably be content to just watch the original while younger audiences wouldn't have any idea what this is.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Maria instantly sleeping with Tony after finding out he killed Bernardo can come across as even more bizarre because, even if it was clear the two had a very strained relationship, unlike other versions Tony doesn't tell her that Bernardo killed Riff first, meaning she doesn't even know why he did it.
  • Anita can comes across as this in this version of "A Boy Like That" because, even if she was in grief and doesn't conclusively know that Bernardo killed Riff as while she sees Riff's body at the morgue alongside Bernardo's, the police wouldn't have known who killed who, and it's established that the Sharks were telling people how Tony killed Bernardo without saying that Bernardo killed Riff, she was very aware of Bernardo's gang activities, and the circumstances make it easy to guess that he was somehow involved with Riff's death.
• Win Back the Crowd: Though he had never stopped making well-received films, Steven Spielberg did have critics who said that his works in The New '10s (if not his entire 21st-century output) didn't measure up to his earlier acclaimed works. This film proved to be his most acclaimed in many years, being heralded as a return to form and up there with his best.
• The Woobie:
  • Officer Krupke of all people turns out to be this. His Jerkass attitude is completely absent and instead he's just a weary, beaten down cop who's hopelessly trying to do his job and is clearly disheartened to see both parties ignore his genuine attempts to help them. He practically begs them at the dance to stop their fighting, but all of his attempts can only at best briefly stop the Sharks and the Jets, who treat the poor guy like an absolute joke.
  • Valentina being a widow alone makes her sympathetic, but then there's the fact that she had to endure racism from both Caucasians and her fellow Puerto Ricans due to marrying the white Doc. When she learns of the rumble, she mourns for the young men she watched grow up whilst knowing that all her looking out for Tony couldn't stop him from getting into worse trouble than ever before. Still, she then clings on to the hope that someday there will be a place where both sides can live in happiness and share a love with each other like the one she had. Unfortunately, she later gets to witness just how unlikely her dream is when she sees the remaining Jets who she invited into her store trying to rape Anita. Not long after that, her night manages to get even worse when she hopelessly watches Tony being shot dead. The only solace she can take in all this misery is that a few — but noticeably not all — of the gangsters finally put aside their hatred of each other.
  • Anita and Maria come to the United States full of hope for a better life (in contrast to the men who are more cynical) and in one night, Bernardo and Tony (whose relationship may have mended the gang violence) are killed in gang violence.

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