Reviews- West Side Story (2021) and The King's Man

 A re-make and a prequel- but do they work??

The original West Side Story is considered iconic enough to have been left alone for sixty years but a Steven Spielberg movie is always worth seeing and he’s expressed such admiration for that 1961 film that he must have a good reason to create a new version of it. Some people had their doubts, but I think he’s done a fine job. Any flaws are inherited from the original if not from Romeo and Juliet itself -  notably the unlikely event of two such hostile communities meeting up for a dance and the fact that all the events take place in just two days. He keeps to the same plot with a few alterations and also adds a more dramatic style that the 1961 version lacked. Crucially those killer songs are in place and you can’t go far wrong with them.

Most of this new versions’ additions are excellent ones- he relocates scenes to better underscore the action so the colourful swish of `America` now spills vibrantly through the streets in daytime while the climactic gang fight takes place in a theatrically lit salt house. As the gangs enter from either side, the camera shoots from above showing their lengthening shadows as they walk towards each other. The fights themselves are harder and less balletic than the 1961 film and therefore seem as dangerous as they should be.

Spielberg’s New York is also doused in grime and decay. The opening shot glides over demolished or crumbling buildings coming to rest on a wrecking ball as the area is under development. In this context all the fighting is over territory that neither side will soon be able to afford to live in. This gives the gang beef added edge, a sense that there really is nothing to lose. Spielberg also casts with more ethnic accuracy and isn’t willing to offer subtitles for the bursts of Spanish language dialogue peppered through the film though we can see the intent in these scenes.

The urgency of the scenario is best embodied in Riff, the leader of the Jets who has fought his way to whatever he has and cannot understand why Tony is turning his back on it. In the hands of Mike Faist, this role becomes even more pivotal as the sinewy, aggressive Riff is the beating heart of the gang who will fight for anything. It’s a performance you'll remember afterwards and is more subtle than it may initially appear. Mike Faist is terrific in every scene he occupies. 

Also making a strong impression is Ariana DeBose who’s firecraker Anita also has hidden depths. Much of what she fights for is wider than just her own life; she is representing all immigrants and she brings a real fire to the role. Anita was the role played by Rita Moreno sixty years ago and who features here in a  new role of  Valentina, the widow of the Doc character.  At nearly ninety she brings gravitas and conscience to the film and when she is gifted one of the keynote songs it is a real Spielberg moment that elevates matters. Rachel Zegler makes a great Maria with a powerful, expressive voice and screen presence. In a role that is always difficult to believe in she makes you understand what Maria is feeling.

Mike Faist as Riff - should have been nominated for an Oscar!

It is one of those plots that doesn’t bear too much scrutiny with an ending that packs in too much in a short time.  There are a few irritants; `I Feel Pretty` is still in there even though it has always seemed like it comes from another film altogether. The uncomfortable scene where some of the Sharks assault Maria seems a step too far from a narrative point of view. The character of Chino vanishes for a large portion of the film when given his pivotal role at the end, he shouldn’t. Also, and this was the case too in the 1961 version, the character of Tony just doesn’t convince as ever having been part of the gang.However taken as a whole this is a worthwhile and often impressive version of a well worn story with some stand out performances and, always, Steven Spielberg’s sense of class making it win out.

If I were going to pen a comedy drama prequel explaining the origins of the Kingsmen I’d show their early hapless missions where, comedically, things went wrong. Then just as they were about to be disbanded they’d be called upon to undertake a mission of great importance and they’d pull it off thus ensuring their future. This is not that film.  The King’s Man is billed as a comedy drama but there’s not many funnies in its two hours ten minutes. The most laughs come from a mountain goat! I want a sequel with the mountain goat. There are plenty of interesting set pieces but they struggle to gel as one film; there are times when it seems like we’re cutting between about three different movies. What comedy there is comes from arch performances but it seems as if the script prefers the serious drama. There is a whole sequence set in the trenches that is as good as much of 1917 and concludes with an uplifting act of heroism and then a sudden jolt. Yet though connected this seems to come from another sort of film altogether. Ambitiously shoehorning the origins of the Kingsman organisation into pivotal events before and during the first World War is just too much of a reach that relies on wordy exposition and unlikely happenstance to work.

 The story centres around the Duke of Oxford whose outwardly gentile demeanor hides a diligent spy secretly working to help the King. However, he is also shaped by a traumatic event years earlier which means he does all he can to stop and then protect his nineteen year old son Conrad from going to the frontline. This of itself is enough to build a film  on but we have a Scottish supervillain plotting to de-stabilise Britain in order to engineer Scottish independence. From his unlikely base atop a craggy mountain accessible only by creaky wooden pully lift (unless you’re a goat) he dispatches sundry unsavoury historical characters to do their worst. These include Gavrilo Princip whose assassination of Archduke Ferdinand precipitated the war, Russian `mad monk` Rasputin and notorious temptress Mata Hari amongst others. Quite how he came to hold such an influence over these strong characters (or indeed persuaded them to come to his goat ridden HQ shack) goes unexplained.

Ralph Fiennes as Oxford makes an excellent action lead – we talk a lot about representation but rarely do we see people over fifty being front and centre in something other than dramas about fishermen or dementia. The obvious route would have been to have his son as the heroic lead but giving over much of the action to Fiennes is refreshing and he carries it well. He also gives an excellent performance in the more dramatic moments. Rhys Ifans clearly has a great time as Rasputin but exits the film early. Both Djimon Hounsou and Gemma Arterton have their moments but are underused while Harris Dickenson as Conrad is given a character that doesn’t seem to have any decent lines, almost everything he has to say is a cliché.. As for the villain, the reveal as to his identity is left so late that the audience will have guessed simply because the actor seems to have disappeared from the story yet we haven’t seen him killed.  

As we’ve come to expect from Matthew Vaughn, the action is sharp and exciting. A set to with Rasputin, the battlefield sequence and a final Bondesque assault on the mountain top villain are all class but there is a constant nagging feeling of a promise unfulfilled. And when the funniest thing in a comedy drama is a goat, you know you’re on stony ground!

 

A mountain goat, yesterday.