West Side Story (2021): Camera Angles and Divided Cityscapes - Did it work for anyone else?

Hey everyone! Sarah here, still buzzing from rewatching Spielberg's West Side Story (2021) last night. Visually, it's STUNNING, right? But I'm curious if anyone else felt a little... detached? Like, the cinematography was so deliberate and precise, almost TOO perfect. Don't get me wrong, Janusz Kamiński is a legend, but sometimes I felt like I was watching a meticulously crafted painting rather than being immersed in the characters’ struggles. Specifically, I'm thinking about the way they shot the city. The high-angle shots, emphasizing the fractured landscape and the physical division between the Sharks and the Jets were powerful, but almost... clinical? Compare that to something like Do the Right Thing, where the visuals feel raw and immediate. Did Spielberg maybe prioritize aesthetic beauty over gritty realism? I'm wondering if that contributed to some people feeling a disconnect from the emotional core of the story. And what about the use of color? The costumes were vibrant, the set design was incredible, but again, it felt super controlled. Did the heightened color palette actually enhance the story's emotional impact, or did it kinda distract from the raw intensity of the conflict? I'm torn because, on one hand, it's visually breathtaking. On the other hand, something felt… missing, emotionally? Maybe I'm just being overly critical, haha. Throwing it out there—what were your thoughts on the visual language of the film?