Roy Elal
Ms. Moore
Humanities
1/2/12

Judas Iscariot Superstar: Jesus Christ Superstar movie review

Norman Jewison’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” is the story  of Jesus’ last couple of weeks before he was crucified tragically, by the people’s decision. This film, shot in Israel, 1972, essentially met the expectations it was given, even though it attracted some criticism from some religious groups because of the ending, which didn’t show Jesus’ resurrection. Carl Anderson, who played the character of Judas Iscariot, definitely proved his outstanding performances throughout the hippie rock-opera version of Jesus Christ’s way to crucifixion. Although the movie was based on Jesus Christ who was played by Ted Neeley, and in my opinion failed the expectations he was (or at least should have been) given before the movie, but Anderson showing a superior understanding of the plot, made the movie somewhat worthwhile.

Alongside Ted Neeley (Jesus Christ) and Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot), some of the other major roles played by Yvonne Elliman (Mary Magedeline), Barry Dennen (Pontius Pilot), and Bob Bingham (Caiaphas), all had some impact throughout the storyline, as they acted some of the more major roles of the story. The Director, Producer, and the Screenplay was all mostly done by Norman Jewison, who was definitely one of the two men who made this rock-opera somewhat amusing, or entertaining. What one must realize about this is that Ted Neeley demolished the movie with his singing, acting, and enthusiasm shown all together, but thanks to the multi-tasking director Norman Jewison and one of the main characters; Carl Anderson (Judas Iscariot), this movie was in my opinion a successful G-rated film.

As stated above this movie was based on the last couple of weeks of Jesus’ life, but more specifically, this movie is based on the conflicts and connection between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot. Judas started off being one of Jesus’ first and closest followers, yet as the plot begins, Judas sees that Jesus is going to a new direction, where he is more concerned about his own popularity, than the message he was sending in the beginning, which eventually really bothers Judas; and in the end decides to assist the Jewish religious leaders in catching him, and sending him to Pontius Pilot.

One of the more humorous parts of this movie is the fact that some of the guards had guns, how this movie is supposed to be G-rated, yet there are prostitutes everywhere when they arrive to the market, or when Jesus doesn’t really show interest in Mary Magdalene. To be honest, this movie might have been a bit too modern with the guns, and the hipster King Herod was also bit over the top.

My opinion is very straight forward. Ted Neeley ruined this movie completely, whereas Carl Anderson drew my attention back into it, and made the movie somewhat worth watching. I have to say that in some way I actually did enjoy this film, which is absurd because of how fake it is and how it doesn’t even go with the real story (or at least how Christians believe.) All in all, the only reason I might recommend this movie is because of Carl Anderson and how he showed his efforts throughout the film, and because of the humorous parts in it including plains and tanks.