Review Revue: Critics React To Lady Gaga’s “Judas” Video

Becky Bain | May 5, 2011 1:28 pm

Lady Gaga’s video for “Judas” (watch it here) debuted earlier than expected, and the opinions rolled out just as quickly for the pop star’s biker Bible story. But did most bloggers and music critics find the video sacrilegious, or sacrlicious? Jump below to find out.

:: Vulture thought the video was a bit of a letdown. “Despite the crowns of thorns, biker gangs, impressive eyeliner, and religious symbolism, this feels less ‘eventful’ than videos past. We’ve seen Gaga wearing crosses before: Her washing a Jesus stand-in’s feet and wearing a blue Virgin Mary cloak isn’t fresh territory (and, besides, the bar for being scandalous about Jesus in a music video is pretty high).”

:: Neon Limelight was also underwhelmed. “The intertwined biker concept and the juxtaposed choreography shots make the video far less heavy than we were expecting. Because, seriously, how can you cry blasphemy over a gun that shoots lipstick?”

:: MTV Buzzworthy had a holy experience watching the clip, calling it “ambitious, strange, beautiful and deeply thought-provoking, much like Gaga herself.”

:: PopCrush was also impressed with the biblical reimagining: “It’s an intense handful of minutes. It’s also a bold and beautiful short film.

:: MTV thought maybe Gaga had built it up to be something it really isn’t. “Despite pretty much everything Gaga had said about the video — that it was ‘a motorcycle Fellini film,’ that it portrayed ‘a betrayal of a prophecy fulfilled’ — it is very much a pure pop clip, albeit one that looks great and is sure to earn the ire of a few folks on the religious right.”

:: PopEater thought Gaga was playing it too safe for once. “[Gibson] and Gaga decided to tone down the religious aspects of the video but did they tone it down too much? Gaga just isn’t Gaga without a little controversy and we’re afraid that ‘Judas’ may be playing it on the safe side.”

:: Consequence of Sound agrees with MTV, saying that the vid has a “standard dance routine, skimpy outfits, and creepily enthusiastic back-up dancers” and although the video features modern-day religious characters, “The rest, though, is fairly tame.”

As for us at Idolator, we’re a bit underwhelmed with the video, which feels like a Euro-pop version of Jesus Christ Superstar mashed up with Easy Rider, and we’re particularly disappointed with the basic choreography that looks straight off an old VHS tape of Sweatin’ To The Oldies. However, there are some interesting visuals in the clip, and we realize we can’t always get “Bad Romance”s and “Telephone”s all the time.

Plus, we’re grateful for the lack of product placement — unless that’s a specific type of makeup gun we’re subliminally being told to go out and purchase?

The longer 7-minute cut of the video premieres tonight on E! And we’re looking forward to all the parody videos to come.