West Side Story Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Ups...

7. Steven Spielberg's PHENOMENAL Direction

It's genuinely surprising that Steven Spielberg hasn't ever directed a musical before, but given that remaking West Side Story has been his dream project for many years, it's less surprising that the end result is a project absolutely dripping with passion.

If Spielberg's directorial efforts of the last decade-or-so have mostly felt a little lacking in enthusiasm and basically seen the director working on autopilot, West Side Story feels like the product of a hungry, energetic filmmaker decades Spielberg's junior.

This is Spielberg's most vibrant filmmaking in many years, deploying gorgeously smooth, elaborate crane shots and long takes to immerse the audience in ways the '61 film never could.

Spielberg knows the best place to put the camera at all times, and is of course an expert actors' director, which together ensure this is the most alive a Spielberg film has felt in a long, long time.

It's difficult to picture the master director not scoring a Best Director Oscar nomination for his outstanding work here, and he's so, so deserving of the honour.