Dogma

"Were they sent to hell?" 
- Bethany Sloane

"Worse.  Wisconsin.  For the entire span of human history." 
- Metatron



Two fallen angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck), who have been banished to Wisconsin by God for insubordination, discover a loophole to get back into heaven.  They have to turn themselves into humans by cutting off their wings and be forgiven for their sins, and then die with clean souls.  Unfortunately, while this will get them into heaven, it will end all of existence immediately after.  Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angel and the voice of God recruits a Catholic, abortion clinic worker, Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino), to stop Loki and Bartleby.  She is joined by two prophets, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), as well as the unknown 13th Apostle, Rufus (Chris Rock), and a former muse turned stripper, Serendipity (Salam Hayek).  The group journey to New Jersey to stop the fallen angels, but a demon (Jason Lee), who wants to see existence destroyed, is determined to stop them at any cost.


What Works:

Dogma is primarily a comedy, and it's hilarious.  Almost everyone is firing on all cylinders.  Not only are Alan Rickman and Chris Rock hilarious, but we have George Carlin in a minor role as a Cardinal.  Talk about a recipe for comedy.  Even the less funny characters are still great.  Matt Damon and Ben Affleck steal the show every time they are on screen, and Kevin Smith's Silent Bob, who has two lines in the whole movie, is still very charismatic with his facial expressions.

Dogma is also a really thought-provoking film.  It takes a hard look at religion, particularly Catholicism, and is very critical of it.  But I don't think it was being disrespectful, just brutally honest. And it doesn't flat out reject religion either.  The point of the movie is to think about things critically, and I think it makes that point well.


What Sucks:

While he does have one great scene near the end, I found Jason Mewes' character, Jay, to be very annoying.  He's obnoxious and just a huge douche.  He has a few funny moments, but the hype about Jay and Silent Bob must either be all about Bob, or Jay must be better in other movies.  I don't really see the appeal.

Not all of the jokes land, and the writing is a bit scatterbrained at times as well.  There were definitely a few spots that could have been tightened up and a few scenes didn't quite make sense.


Verdict:

Dogma is a pretty controversial movie, but I was expecting it to be a lot worse than it was.  It was really funny and very thought-provoking.  It has its flaws, for sure, but I give the movie credit for exploring topics most films wouldn't go near, and having conversations that need to happen.  I haven't ever seen a movie quite like this, and I doubt I ever will.  But I can say that Dogma has got it going on.  

 8/10: Really Good 





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