JCS is the musical with both the worst and best film adaptions...

I have finally been able to finish this travesty of a movie. I am putting my review here because it doesn't give me an option on my phone to review but I am perpetually shocked when people say they think this is better than the 1973 version. For most films I would concede that there are factors in most films that I may not like but others might. However, I can't see much of anything good about this film. This is not because I love the 1973 version, being a film student I would still pick apart everything about JCS 2000. Lets begin...

1) It doesn't appear that anybody made a solid decision from start to finish(and I mean pre-production through post). As I heard they appeared to try to make some sort of play/film hybrid. It should either a live performance or a film, trying to make it both resulted in a claustrophobic environment were it appears that nobody is beyond 10 feet from each other at all times.

Beyond that, JCS isn't supposed to be a dystopian story, it is supposed to have modern influences on a biblical story. Taking it completely modern is probably how it turned into a dystopia but when I looked around in the early 2000s it wasn't all nazis and hooligans. Furthermore, it turned the characters into people they weren't supposed to be and distanced itself from the actual story that was supposed to be told.

2) Now let's talk actors. Worst. Acting. I've. Ever. Seen. They may be decent or even good on stage but from the get go it is painfully clear that they are not film actors and should stay on the stage. I personally believe in Christ so when I am laughing during his crucifixion because of the massive over-acting, it's not generally a good thing. Every single actor was too over the top which is something for stage because you have to project, but it just comes off comical on film.

3) Direction, production, editing, etc... This includes some of the acting choices because I'm sure the director never once gave adequate direction for a film. To really sum up these characters- they all appear to be whiny, bipolar, hypocritical bitches. It appears that everybody completely ignored the lyrics to the songs. In Superstar Judas looks as if he's mocking Jesus and calling him stupid. The song is not meant to mock but rather be more of an actual question as established with Judas' war with his conscience before that. The entire time Judas appears to have a conscience that only appears sometimes and other times it doesn't appear at all. The you have Jesus who appears as a cult leader who is beyond high and mighty and cocky. There isn't 1 character that I could like in that film. Pontius Pilate looked like he wanted Jesus to die when he was singing about trying to save him. The characters were just too contradictory to what they were singing. It's like a character who is a serial killer but they cast a 6 year old that goes around hugging people.

The editing felt unnatural, and rigid. I don't even think they utilize any establishing shots, or at least any good establishing shots. The costuming was also terrible, specifically the angels at the end. Who told them having S&M angels would be a good idea?

To top it off, the crucifixion was completely out of place. They established this entirely modern world and then BAM traditional crucifixion. I get that Islamic and sharia law still allows crucifixion in some countries and it has been done in recent years but they established this film as a modern western world, not the eastern world. So we see virtually no influence of biblical times until we are hit with it at the end. Certainly goes with them not following through on any decision they made.

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on this film. Like I said it's not based off of my thoughts for the 1973 version, however, I do feel the 1973 version nailed most of it. I'd be hard pressed to find any person who loves good film that would enjoy this film beyond the capability to laugh at how ridiculous it is as a production.