“When you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the way” — unless you manage to mess it up one day. Although I may not be able to write lyrics like Stephen Sondheim despite my best efforts, director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner felt that they could improve on the classic 1961 musical by remaking the film in 2021. The film was released in theaters in December but was added to Disney+ and HBO Max on March 2.

Before we get into the quality of the film, we must first look back at the history of “West Side Story.” Originally a Broadway musical debuting in 1957, “West Side Story” is loosely based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Four years later, directors Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins adapted the musical into a film. “West Side Story” (1961) was an instant hit, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1961 and winning 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Even 60 years later, the film is still relevant as it has been recognized as culturally significant by the Library of Congress and the U.S. National Film Registry.

However, modern criticism of the film has focused on some ways that it has not aged gracefully. While the choreography, music and colors are as beautiful as they were in 1961, some of the effects, particularly the shots with half of the screen blurred, look comical by today’s standards. On a more serious note, the 1961 film also has faced controversy for its racist and one-dimensional portrayal of Puerto Ricans, including stereotypes, brownface and offensive accents. With this in mind, Spielberg’s “West Side Story” had both a lot to live up to and much to work on. The question is: does “West Side Story” (2021) improve on the original?

The short answer is not really, as there are parts of “West Side Story” (2021) that shine and other parts that do not work at all. The general storyline of the film is the same as the original — two rival New York City gangs, the Caucasian Jets and the Puerto Rican Sharks, battle for control of territory while Tony, a former Jet, falls in love with Maria, who is the sister of Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks. There are some small changes made to the new film, as several songs are moved around both in terms of their temporal placement and setting.

Starting on the positive side, the supporting cast is excellent, just as it was in the original. Both iterations of “West Side Story” have great portrayals of Anita — Rita Moreno in 1961 and Ariana DeBose in 2021 — but the new film improves on the characters Riff and Chino by fleshing their characters out. Riff, the leader of the Jets, is given more background and screen time with Tony. Mike Faist, the actor who plays Riff, is excellent in the film and he steals every scene he is in with his menacing and gritty personality. On the other hand, Josh Andrés Rivera’s Chino starts the film as softer and more gentle as a friend of Bernardo, but becomes hardened during the course of the film. If anything, Chino should have had more time on screen because he is one of the most fascinating characters in the film.

Another part of “West Side Story” (2021) that works well is the direction and cinematography. The film is beautiful, full of vibrant colors, elaborate set pieces and extraordinary choreography. This may be Spielberg’s first musical, but it is shot like he has been doing this his whole career. In particular, one notable scene is at the beginning of the dance, when the Sharks enter and find the Jets dancing across the whole gym. The scene is done with one shot, beginning with the Sharks walking into the gym, then moving onto the Jets dancing and finally panning back to the Sharks on the side of the room, having been squeezed out by the Jets. Shots like these make the film fun to watch because the camerawork complements the music and dancing.

Onto the negative side of “West Side Story” (2021), the film falls apart when it comes to the two romantic leads. Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler play Tony and Maria respectively, but neither manages to be anything more than fine. The chemistry between the two is lacking, making it hard for the audience to take it seriously that they fell in love at first sight. Elgort is probably the weaker of the two, as his singing is rather weak and he seems to be quite bored for most of the film. Zegler can sing well, but her character is written poorly, both with her cringey love dialogue and horrible treatment of Anita. The two leads are easily outshone by the superior supporting characters.

Perhaps the biggest problem with “West Side Story” (2021) is that the film does not know what it wants to be. The opening shot of the film reveals that the neighborhood is being converted to a wealthier area, signaling to the audience that this film will be about gentrification. However, the film fails to pay this off in any significant way, as there are only a couple of lines throughout the film that reference this fact and they add nothing to the overall story.

Similarly, the film tries too hard to be a story that will appeal to everyone. A perfect example of this in action is the scenes with only Sharks, where about half of the dialogue is spoken in Spanish with no English subtitles. This choice is incredibly confusing, and shows the characters speaking Spanish, but also has them repeat the dialogue in English instead of just using subtitles. It would have been much better if all the dialogue was in Spanish and then English subtitles were added for audiences who do not speak Spanish. These two problems epitomize a larger problem in the film — “West Side Story” (2021) does not know what it wants to say about gentrification and Puerto Rican immigration in the 1950s.

Overall, “West Side Story” (2021) is a disappointing remake of a film that could have been improved. Although the supporting characters and visuals of the film are great, the lack of a unifying theme for the film and the underwhelming performances from the lead characters make it a flawed film. “West Side Story” (2021) may have been the only musical to pick up a Best Picture nomination this year, but do not be fooled — watch Netflix’s “tick, tick…BOOM!” if you want to see the best musical of 2021.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars