16 Delayed 2021 Movies That Were Actually Worth Waiting For

West Side Story is Steven Spielberg's best film since Jurassic Park, and one of the very best films of the year.

It's an absolutely phenomenal musical film in pretty much every way. Not only is Spielberg's direction masterful and not only are the musical numbers outstanding, but it merges this consummate technical brilliance with a beautifully-acted and truly heartfelt love story that'll hit you incredibly hard and have you leaving the cinema with a lump in your throat.

It's also among the best remakes you'll ever watch. With its deeper examination of the original's still-relevant themes of racism and social division, this justifies its existence but furthermore... it improves upon the original.

The original film is a beautifully-made musical, but the drama isn't quite as strong as the musical numbers and the two lead performances aren't that great either. In contrast, 2021's West Side Story has a beating heart and soul, Rachel Zegler is completely and utterly brilliant and (personal controversies aside) Ansel Elgort is a revelation as Tony, and gives a superb lead performance.

Sure, it doesn't reinvent the wheel but when a film is this good it's pretty hard to care. It's a shame we had to wait so long for it but however long the wait had been, this beautiful and brilliant slice of cinematic gold would've been worth waiting for.