Director:
Kerry Dye
Written by:
Kerry Dye
Jordan Hoffman
Ultrachrist! is a bit of a mixed bag. It's a very low budget movie that overcomes its limited resources by working well with what it has. It is also marred by poor acting and a third act that falls flat.
The premise is fairly simple: Jesus Christ (Jonathan Greene) comes back as per prophecy. Realizing that he is woefully out of touch with today's youth, he decides to change his image. He dons a super-hero getup and takes to the streets to fight sin wherever he sees it. Jesus ultimately must battle the anti-Christ who is posing as the most powerful of men, the NYC Parks Commissioner (Samuel Campbell).
The movie takes a decidedly farcical approach and has some legitimately funny moments. The script is often clever, such as Jesus's warning regarding self-pleasure: "The circle of Hell reserved for perpetual wankers is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to spend eternity there."
The acting isn't great, but it's much better than movies with similar production value. The dialog seems only occasionally stilted, and the performances are energetic. Greene plays a likeable Christ coming into his own. His naive approach to things leads him to consider why harmless sin should be a sin at all.
The humor is lightweight in terms of both style (friendly and silly), and theology. There are few jokes that require more than the most basic knowledge of the Bible. The simplicity of the humor generally works well for the movie. There is some blasphemy, however the script is largely inoffensive. Religious beliefs are poked, but not assaulted.
Ultrachrist! does go downhill pretty fast in the last act, however. Religious humor is abandoned for boring slapstick and hijinks. The end of the movie is disappointing at best and undermines everything that came before it.
All in all, Ultrachrist! makes decent light fare if you want to watch an irreverent and simple movie. Given proper expectations, the movie can be enjoyable, but its weaknesses prevent it from being anything more.
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