Dogma Review
by Nick Lyons (moviephan2 AT aol DOT com)November 22nd, 1999
Dogma Review
After seeing Dogma, I can't get it out of mind. The film is filled with so many messages and jokes, that I feel the need to see it again. Although Kevin Smith brings some of the amateur humor along, he manages to maintain a clever and sometimes provocative script that dares to be different.
After all the controversy and arguments over Dogma, it quite surprisingly paid off. While it is sure to offend some religious protesters, others may understand what Smith was trying to express. I for one was completely satisfied. Sure the film may be crude, but if you look closer, you will notice that Smith was more or less mocking our world, than our religions. Like Bartebly and Loki were saying, they can't believe how far our world has dropped. People sinning left and right etc. To me this seems like a mockery of how we treated God, or maybe not. It's just one of the many ideas floating in my mind head about this film.
The film opens with Bartebly (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), 2 angels cast out of heaven for disobeying their Lord. They receive a letter about a church that has a loophole that would bring them back to heaven. One thing the letter fails to mention is the elimination of the world's existence, because you can't betray God. So now our lives are in the hands of Bethany (Linda Florentino), Jay (Jason Mewes) Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), and The 13th Apostle Rufus (Chris Rock). With the help of the voice of God (Alan Rickman), they can save the world, but again they face another problem. It appears that Azrael (The devil's muse) and a gang of thugs, will stop at nothing to let them enter the church (because they would rather die then go to hell).
The film is absurd on some levels, but there's so much to absorb here. That was however a problem. Kevin Smith seemed a bit confused as well. It's like he had too many ideas and made a mess of putting them together, but Dogma straightens itself out. The same goes with the jokes. Just about everyone but Jason Lee and Linda Florentino provide plenty of laughs to keep the film flowing, especially Chris Rock. Speaking of Chris Rock, if it wasn't for his presence, the film would have suffered badly. Since Linda Florentino was totally miscast as the leading character, I was a bit worried that would permit the film from flowing smoothly. Thankfully Chris came in the nick of time. Although he wasn't his usual loud mouthed self, he still offered the most entertaining scenes. The rest of the cast was good, but more notable were Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Although they were meant to be the villains, they created some hilarious scenes, one of which includes a Mickey Mouse type of animal named Mooby, undoubtedly a reference towards Miramax for turning the film down because it was a Disney owned corporation.
As I mentioned earlier, the script is very bold. You have to congratulate Kevin on his achievement, even if you disliked it. What Kevin did was brilliant, and this is without a doubt the best original screenplay of the year. It most likely won't get nominated for an Oscar because of how harsh it is, but I sure won't overlook it.
As for Kevin Smith, it's about time he has matured more. Once a comic book nerd, now a respected director, I'm glad to see that he has stepped up. I will be curious as to what approach he might take next. The sky's the limit. Crude and offensive it may be, but I love it. For once people should forget about life and have an enjoyable time. After all, even "God has a sense of humor."
Grade: A-
www.chud.com
http://jump.to/moviepage
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
