"Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - 1999 Film Version" It Still Holds Up (Fairly Well)

 


    As a musical fan, one habit I've developed it watching multiple renditions of a musical in succession in order to gauge what I loved about each version, and I can safely say while I did enjoy this movie, I think the 2023 Toronto run of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was better, if on the sole basis of it not having really aged parts that make you go, wait this is for kids? Keep in mind I literally just poured all my energy into reviewing the musical in the very last post, so this won't be a conventional review, and mostly just me talking about how aged this musical has truly become.

    First off, I'd like to note that I didn't realize God or Jesus isn't mentioned a single time during this musical. I guess I never noticed the exclusion because it's not like this musical isn't overtly religious, but they never even said that Joseph's gift was God-given or that God has a plan for him, and I suppose that's a good thing. To really reach as wide of an audience as possible, they shifted the message to mostly be about being a dreamer, and frankly I didn't really miss any of the overt references to religion anyways.

    On a side note, what was up with the Narrator? Who certified this musical, because I feel like any mildly religious or conservative person would watch this and be like "did I see that right?" Why is it that randomly during the song about the brothers being evil they start touching the narrator in completely unnecessary ways. Does a family friendly musical really need sex appeal, especially when it's so obviously shoehorned in and frankly just out of place, like I legitimately can't think of why it was included. They literally had an audience of kids play a fake audience of kids too, so did they have to watch that?

    Also, I know it was the 90's but what was the point of not making Potiphar actually Egyptian? Like I'm genuinely confused why he looked like some corny villain from Austin Power with a backdrop that looked straight from the Seven Nation Army music video? Like I get his wife being kind of raunchy, I mean you can't really address that scene any other way, but like what was up with the random shift in aesthetic? Like they don't even remotely look like Egyptians it was baffling.

    Another tangent, some of these scenes felt kind of really racist. For example, during the scene when Joseph is sold into slavery, once the music finishes it pans towards the two black children in the crowd, as if by showing them it would garner more sympathy from audiences because they'd directly relate to Joseph's suffering? Like that had be to racially motivated, they never even panned to any other black children it felt like.

    Not to mention, while I do appreciate paying homage to certain genres, some of these scenes felt like pretty clear examples of cultural appropriation. Like I appreciate that some of the brothers were black, but did they really have to wear afro's and try and completely mimic black people for the disco section? Keep in mind I actually preferred the disco outfits to the odd basketball outfits they used in the 2023 Toronto version, but still, that probably wouldn't fly today. Furthermore, did they all have to mimic that certain style of singing for Benjamin Calypso?  I appreciate that they let a black person do all the heavy lifting in that song, because it would have been really racist to see a white person mimic the reggaeton voice.

Final Score: 75/100

    Frankly, this movie should be closer to the 85 I gave the 2023 version but I feel wrong giving it a higher review considering how poorly aged it seems at parts. Otherwise, it's barely over an hour and you can find a copy on YouTube, so if you never get the oppourtunity to watch this show live, I'd say this movie is a fairly solid substitute that keeps the spirit of the musical.

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