The Broadway Bound Blogathon 2020 – Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

This is my final of 3 reviews for The Broadway Bound Blogathon 2020 being hosted by Rebecca of Taking Up Room.

Tnx for letting me partake Rebecca!

“All your followers are blind, too much heaven on their minds.” – Judas

Number of Times Seen – 1 (7 Jun 2020)

Brief Synopsis – The last few weeks of Jesus’ life is told through a musical rendition of things.

My Take on it – This is a film that I’ve known about for years and have actually head some of the most famous songs numerous times yet never had much desire to watch.

For this blogathon, I decided that it was about time to “put a face to the music” and see what this story has to offer.

Unfortunately, this was grueling to get through and is a very crazy version of the events depicted here.

Things unfold in a very disjointed and choppy manner and fails to come across in an interesting way.

I have always been a fan of the music and lyrics of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice and their music is the main bright spot in this mess of a film because they help make things a bit more bearable to watch.

The story jumps back and forth between a modern and an archaic view on things and that also hurts thing because it all is presented in a very strange and abstract fashion which takes so much away from such a story.

Norman Jewison is a superb director but one wouldn’t necessarily know this by watching this film since IMHO< this is among his weakest.

The abstract way that this story is told via some very existential methods is a bit too much and unfortunately makes this even more boring to watch.

The great music isn’t able to help make things any more interesting which is quite a shame.

Bottom Line – Absolutely crazy version of this story. The way that things unfold here is quite disjointed and isn’t very interesting. The music by Webber and Rice is the one bright spot here and this helps make things a bit more bearable to watch. The way that the story changes from being modern to archaic comes across quite strangely and doesn’t help enhance things at all.  Jewison is a great director, but this is not one of his best works IMHO because of the way that things are far too abstract for their own good.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Ted Neeley practically made a career of playing Jesus in stage productions of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” As of early 2018, he had been playing it for almost 50 years. In September 2016 Neeley celebrated his 73rd birthday, which meant he had lived four decades longer than Jesus (who died at age 33). (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (2/10)

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