I think they perfectly updated the story though to reflect issues of today (gentrification, racism, etc) without being so obvious. If you set it today, who are the Jets? MAGA? Is Antifa part of the story? I would hate that and think it would just make the movie insanely polarizing and tiresome. The issues of the original WSS are still the issues of today and they managed to sprinkle more into this than the original but the cover of the period piece/original story helped soften the blow. It was topical without feeling like one was being beat over the head with an issue picture. Plus it is updated in the sense that the world is dirtier and more real, the sense of danger is much more present.
Maybe no song has to go but the music would be totally anachronistic to the current period. It would be like setting a movie in 19th century Vienna and setting it to an EDM version of the Blue Danube. Once you take it out of midcentury New York City and bring it to the world of TikTok and irony, you can't score it with Bernstein.
I strongly disagree here. The lead Tony was bland. However, Maria sparkles. Chino is fleshed out which make such an impact on the final third of the movie, Mike Feist as Riff was a star making performance, Bernardo is also very strong. The arrangement of the numbers gives the non-core characters so much more characterization. Plus there is the bonus that the Puerto Rican characters feel Puerto Rican. It has a Latin touch which adds to the authenticity.
It is one of the best staged and filmed movies I've ever seen. Glorious colors, virtuoso camera work, huge set pieces. Just an incredible accomplishment. They somehow took an all time classic and improved upon it. The songs are obviously the star and they didn't screw that up. Instead, they actually used the songs to better tell the story, totally redefined Cool to make an emotional centerpiece, got more of the music from the stage show in than the original WSS (and put some of the songs back in their original order). Dazzling movie that is the absolute peak of what a Hollywood movie can be.