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Living up to the highly praised 1961 movie musical of the same name, you'd think it would be hard for a reimagining to capture the same type of amazement that the original West Side Story movie had. But the 2021 version of this film is just as amazing as the original! Having director Steven Spielberg doing what he does best, you know you're in for a treat!

This one had a very talented cast as well from Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Mike Faist to name a few, and of course Rita Moreno herself! This version wasn't afraid to explore the inner workings of these characters. Which made for a very captivating experience.

Although it's not without it faults, the pacing felt a little strange in a few places. But it wasn't super noticeable as the story continued.

A benefit that this version has over the now 60-year-old original, there's more cultural awareness for the Puerto Rican characters that don't feel caricatures of what Hollywood believes all Puerto Ricans should appear. The use of Spanish dialogue allowed for a more authentic view into the lives of those characters when they weren't surrounded by members of the Jet's gang. Since this movie has been made well after the days of the strict guidelines of the Hays production code that took over Hollywood films from the 1930's to the late 60's, it allowed for this version to take more creative freedom and allow swearing, address racial issues, portray harsher violence, and display an emotionally darker tone that the 1961 version was unable to explore.

If you're "on the fence" about seeing this in theatres and waiting until it comes out on home video or streaming services, I suggested you should see it in theatres. This will give the most spectacular experience possible!

While I've never watched the series before, I have heard about The Soprano's being a popular staple in my home state of New Jersey. After I heard about this film earlier this summer, I was ready to introduce myself into The Soprano's franchise. And I wasn't disappointed.

Although the pacing seemed a little slow for the first hour, it gradually picked up and the movie became very engaging following the character development of Tony Soprano. Although a little faster than I was anticipated. But since the TV show already exists, I imagine further development would take place there.

Unlike in another Warner Bros. Release, Joker (2019); the development was contained within the movie. While "The Many Saints of Newark" already had the story of the series to support the narrative.

The cast did excellent as well making the environment feel reminiscent of what the early 1970's were like in Newark.

The audio mixing could have been made a little better as well because it became very distracting and I couldn't easily understand the dialogue of the characters.

This movie felt like watching two extended episodes. While I wouldn't watch it in theatres, it's simultaneous release on HBOmax felt very fitting. Since the TV show is also accessible there.

As a person who's been involved in musical theatre for many years, my expectations for this movie were mixed. But having seen this movie in theatres, it's done enough to fulfill my curiosity. While it wasn't terrible, there were some things that could use improvement. I think that goes for any Broadway musical that is adapted into a motion picture. The performances from everybody involved were also okay. Ben Platt's performance seemed more stage-like rather, but it doesn't take away from his spectacular vocal range and his close-to-reality depiction of social anxiety.

The pacing seemed to drag on a little bit in some places too. But overall this was a welcome change of pace to the movie musical genre.