But I mostly felt like he didn't really commit to the role and the emotions in it enough to pull it off.

I totally agree. It struck me early on (from Minchin's performance but also Ben Forster's) that this version wasn't going to have a compelling emotional connection between Judas and Jesus. But being a fan of a lot of Tim Minchin's comedy and immediately thinking of at least a half-dozen songs of his about atheism and skepticism, I initially thought: "Okay, cool, maybe they're harnessing the celebrity casting here, and the fact that he's just kind of sneering his way through this number is because they're going to have Judas's objections to the supernatural rumours springing up about Jesus not just make him fear for the future of their movement but be more philosophically central to him. Maybe he's here against the old laws as much as against Roman oppression and this is going to pay off big time when we see him with Caiaphas and Annas. Maybe in lieu of focusing on the emotions, all this Occupy imagery and having Jesus and the apostles costumed and coiffed to image-conscious Protestor Chic is at least leading to some commentary on the in-group politics of activist movements."

But...no. If there was anything there, I missed it.