West Side Story Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

2. Janusz Kamiński's Incredible Cinematography

West Side Story sees Spielberg once again re-teaming with his regular cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, who aside from those aforementioned excess lens flares does an absolutely spectacular job bringing the director's vision to life.

From top to bottom, this is a beautifully assembled film from a visual perspective: the framing, ultra-smooth and motivated camera movement, lighting, and desaturated colour grading all add up to ensure this feels both like "classic" Hollywood and something taking full advantage of modern filmmaking tech.

Kamiński faced an enormous challenge to elevate Spielberg's film above what came before, but that he has certainly done in aesthetic terms, ensuring the new West Side Story is an eye-watering feast in basically every moment.