SummaryThis reimagining of the beloved musical West Side Story tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City.
Directed By:Steven Spielberg
Written By:Tony Kushner, Arthur Laurents
West Side Story
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
85
User score
Generally Favorable
6.9
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
90% Positive
56 Reviews
56 Reviews
10% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Dec 14, 2021
100
This is a West Side Story for both the past and present, as pleasing as the best movie musicals used to be, and as relevant as today’s headlines. It makes you feel like you are actually on the turbulent streets of New York’s west side, not a sound stage.
Dec 10, 2021
95
All Speilberg really did was take a masterpiece, keep it a masterpiece, and add a little flair (and backstory). He took gold and made prettier gold.
User score
Generally Favorable
70% Positive
179 Ratings
179 Ratings
15% Mixed
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
15% Negative
38 Ratings
38 Ratings
Oct 3, 2025
10
Beautiful, striking, incredible. Steven Speilberg really accomplished the impossible with this one!
Apr 11, 2023
10
I'm not a huge Broadway fan. This movie might actually change my thoughts on it, because the second I watched the movie it really touched me. Idk if this review will spoil anything or whatever, but at times the dancing and story really entertained me so much I got into it. It also almost made me cry I'm glad I didn't see me in theaters cause I know it will bring even more tears to me. The reason reboots and remakes are made was to appeal a masterpiece classic to a new audience generation. This really appealed to me. Such a fantastic movie. Well done Spielberg!!
Dec 10, 2021
90
It’s a hell of an achievement, and the rare case where a remake feels like an act of fervent fandom.
Dec 9, 2021
88
There have been countless iterations of this masterwork (it was revived again on Broadway as recently as last year), but Spielberg and Kushner enable us to see it with new eyes.
Dec 9, 2021
80
This West Side Story proves someone can still leave their mark on the legend without building it from the ground up. It’s a classic Spielberg joint, a classic hat-tip to Hollywood, and a classic, period.
Dec 2, 2021
75
The whole thing moves like a freight train, its 156 minutes passing in barely a breath, and that breakneck pace, combined with the expressionist aesthetic and candy-colored imagery, reminds us that blockbusters don’t have to be these lumbering processions of greyscaled dreck. It’s a rarity, a big-budget holiday movie with style and pizzazz.
Dec 2, 2021
40
It’s a rare, backwards looking misfire for this director who has always been at the vanguard of cinematic innovation. The care and attention that has gone into the making of this film is undeniable, though at times it feels misplaced and others overwrought.
Dec 3, 2022
10
West Side Story from 2021 SURPRISINGLY manages to be on the same level as the 1961 version and in some moments, manages to rock it tonight and surpasses it
Jul 17, 2023
6
Musical.. you need to like it otherwise don't watch it. I also don't know, wo the target group is. Musical maily for pre-teens but the level of violence is way to big. Then it's already a well known love story. But it's okay.
Nov 12, 2022
6
No Need to tell the plot of this because everybody has seen the originale movie. When i First read Spielberg was makind this remake i tought nobody needs it and i still strongly think it but,even if it's not nearly as good as the original, It turns out to be a really enjoyable movie so i save It with a sufficient score.
Mar 7, 2022
3
I suppose the original material is so good Spielberg couldn't completely destroy it, but he tried. 3 pts to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim for the source material. None for the director of this film.
Dec 14, 2021
3
Spielberg accelerates his descent into irrelevence with a forgettable musical that should have been a lot of fun. This felt like a bland paint-by-numbers musical with nothing new to offer except what I later found out is Spielberg's heavy-handed diversity quotient. Diversity doesn't make a product good. It can only make a product better if it is suited for the material and if the actors are also chosen for their talent and the scripts are written to their strengths. This clearly was not the case with this film in which Spielgberg cares only about casting for race (which is not inherently bad in such a story, but it can't be the only thing...) and insists on making the Spanish language sections be unsubtitled in order to shame people who don't speak Spanish. This is a nice-looking nothing burger with a heavy side of forced social lecturing for absolutely no reason. The original material already handles such topics in a much more entertaining and effective way.
Production Company:
- 20th Century Studios
- TSG Entertainment
- Amblin Entertainment
Release Date:Dec 10, 2021
Duration:2 h 36 m
Rating:PG-13
Tagline:A city divided. Their love will change everything
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 7 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Wins & 4 Nominations
Online Film & Television Association
• 2 Wins & 14 Nominations
