Not the Messiah: He's a Very Naughty Boy

The Life of Brian is the best comedy movie that I have ever seen as of now. It's not THE funniest-that would go to Blazing Saddles-but the poignancy, jokes, and songs make it the best.

Not The Messiah..., which I will just call "Messiah" for brevity's sake, is an aria of Life of Brian, meaning it's an opera that re-tells the story with just a few actors.

In case you haven't seen LOB, Brian is the neighbor of Jesus, and he is mistaken for Him, and many people follow Brian believing HE will save the world from sin. The moral of the story is to think for yourself on what you believe, whether it be religious or other kind of ideology.

Since 97% of this movie is singing, that is what holds the movie together, and that's the biggest problem. Most of the songs are forgettable, and I can't even really recall any names, let alone lyrics.

That said, there are some good songs. Near the end, the iconic Always Look On The Bright Side of Life is sung. However, another song follows, which is uncalled for. The song We Love Sheep was good and had a couple of chuckles-that's one of the best Python-related things ever right there. There were a couple other songs that were decent too, but most are meh and forgettable.

Some of the jokes flowed better in the original movie as well. For example, the scene where Eric Idle says he gets freedom, not crucifixion, has better flow in the actual movie and has less power when you know how the joke ends.

Also, for a PG rating, some of the best jokes are toned down, making it less funny. For example, when Brian's Mom originally told Brian that his father is a Roman, Brian asks: "You mean, you were RAPED?" She responds: "Well, at first...yes." Meaning she liked how the sex felt and just went with it. In this version, Brian just has shock that he has centurion blood in his DNA and that's pretty much it.

Also, when Brian tells people that he is The Messiah so they leave him alone, they praise Brain and bow, to which Brain replies, "Now f**k off!" And John Cleese responds: "How shall we off, Oh Lord?" To make it PG, they say "p*ss off" instead, which has less of an effect, honestly.

I could give other examples, but this gives you a basic idea of how I feel about Messiah. If you are a die hard Monty Python fan, this is worth a watch and that's it. Others will want to pass, and would be better off for it. Messiah is not bad, but not great either, and a bit uneven.

All things said and done, this is a decent one time watch for Python fans with some laughs and catchy tunes. If you feel the need for something completely different, this isn't the worst choice to make.

Note: I will not be doing my Christmas marathon that I started anymore, I got too busy. I apologize but it's better for me to discontinue it. Maybe next year. :(

While many people continue to directly compare it to Life of Brian, they do not notice that it is done in the oratorio style, which they nail.

While I did not find a lot of it completely hilarious, there were plenty of great toe-tapping numbers that uplift the spirit and still gives you a huge smile. The soloists all seemed to have a great connection with each other and even managed to joke with the director from time to time. The BBC symphonic orchestra managed to nail everything, although with such a well-known orchestra, I'd expect nothing less.

Just to help jog everyone's memory, an oratorio is an extended musical composition that lacks action, scenery, costumes. So while yes, this is Life of Brian, they go at it in a completely different approach.

If you can only think of Monty Python in the terms they drew up when they first came out, you will find this thing a huge waste of time. However, if you can accept that they like to do different things and you enjoy some mighty fine musical numbers, than this is definitely going to be a show you love.

I just wish they didn't choose to do it just once. I'd love to get to see this show live.

This is a complete waste of time.

The new material is not even slightly funny and the operatic style kills the humour of the old material.

The singing is good but not really suited to comedy. The music is good but again this is supposed to be comedy so that isn't very important.

There are some odd cameos that fail to be funny.

It ends with the crowd-pleasers like a concert.

If you like Monty Python then watch the film, if you don't like them this won't convert you.

The only positive is that watching this has convinced me to re-watch The Life of Brian just to clear this rubbish from my mind.

I'm a big fan of Monty Phyton. In the series as well as in the movies. Also the life of Brian was funny and innovative. But not not the messiah. So I would like to add to Vincent's comment the following. If you are a big python fan, don't watch it! It might influence your perception of the earlier works. There was one thing that could have been good in the movie. The location of the sublime Albert Hall. Unfortunately it was completely wasted by the poor, uninspired performances! I can understand why Cleese didn't want to take part. They should have hired Neil Innes to create a more of everything show. Maybe the 50th anniversary?

Nothing prepared me for this show, i have been a python fan for as long as i can remember. On arrival to the Albert hall casually waiting to go in Eric idle walks passed and gives me a hug to my amazement. Back to the show, musically amazing the feeling when liberty bell bellowed through the hall from a 200 piece orchestra it brought a tear to my eye. The show was amazing, scripted perfectly with new songs and jokes but still keeping faith with the life of Brian. Cameos from the pythons make it almost the full Monty and the jokes and banter still there after 400 years. The show is amazing and really worth watching, i was honoured to be there live but even watching back on DVD its still amazing. Loved every minute of it and shows that Monty Python is still as fresh as ever