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Dogma Customer Reviews (52 - 54 of 80 Reviews)

SO, SO FUNNY!
This is an all round great movie that offers so much to the viewer. The plot is original and well crafted. It offers an intelligent, sometimes violent, but ultimately lighthearted telling of two banished angels who have found a loop hole which will enable them to re-enter the gates of heaven. However, this cannot be allowed to happen, for it would negate all existence. It is up to the cynical Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), accompanied by two unlikely prophets, Jay & Silent Bob (who provide some hilarious moments) and the "13 apostle", (Chris Rock) to stop them.

This is probably Kevin Smith's finest work yet, despite it being aimed at a more mainstream market than his usual audience. He uses the same type of characters and much of the same cast as those which made Mall Rats, Chasing Amy and Clerks so watchable. It is a very creative, hilarious, fantasy tale that I can watch over and over again.

The Dvd quality is complimentary to the movie. The 5.1 surround makes full use of its capabilities while the picture is clear. However the extras are dissapointing. For such an interesting movie, it would have been good to understand more about the making of and Kevin Smith's vision, Nonetheless, it is still a must have in your collection.

An original, bright, comedy
I should probably start this review by saying that Dogma was forced on me by my best friend, an avowed Kevin Smith fanatic. Having only seen Chasing Amy before (and enjoying it a great deal), I was quite ready to dip into a movie by the same writer. It stirred up a fair bit of controversy at the time, although having watched it I can say it's not actually that controversial. Indeed, it's embracement of all 'ideas' comes almost perilously close to schmaltz. Saying that, this is exactly the kind of screwball humour I love. See, there are two disgraced angels (Damon and Affleck) who find a dogmatic loophole through which they can re-enter Heaven, thus ending the world by proving God to be fallible. So it falls upon Linda Fiorentino's lapsed Catholic, as recruited by The Voice of God (Alan Rickman), to put a stop to their dastardly plans. Along the way she's aided by prophets (Jay and Silent Bob), the forgotten 13th apostle (Chris Rock) and a muse (Salma Hayek). All against Jason Lee's horn-headed baddie.

The humour comes thick and fast, with some absolutely classic scenes involving Damon's Loki exacting vengeance on a board meeting, Alanis Morissette's God doing handstands after defeating the apocalypse and some very very brilliant pop culture references. The acting is also crucial, with particular stand-outs including Damon's most freewheeling role yet, Fiorentino treading a fine line between the serious and the comical and Affleck proving that with the right script and a role that doesn't reek of self-satisfaction (Pearl Harbour anyone?) he can be a very likeable, good, performer. It of course goes without saying that the supporting cast is uniformally excellent.

Still, the script does pander to vulgarity several times, which you'll either lap up or resent given the nuance, interesting humour of the rest of the movie. Smith also has a slight tendency to over-talk his script, as if to constantly to remind us that this is a satire and not something to be taken seriously. Whilst he points out in an ironic foreword that this should be evident ten minutes in, he still feels the need to hammer it in a little too much. Saying that though, the serious elements of the story are mostly done very well, thanks in no part to Fiorentino. Destined to become some kind of cult classic among Smith fans, this is a much smarter and funnier comedy than any of the one I've seen this year yet. So, whilst not brilliant perhaps, at the very least Dogma is witty, vibrant and original.

Intelligent? Farce?
I think that's the biggest beef I have with this movie - that some actually think it's "intelligent"! How far we have fallen ...

Is it blasphemous? Not really ... it's too puerile in its pretensions to be blasphemous, because it ends up taking shots at an unrecognizable form of Catholicism. Monty Python, while hilarious, makes the same mistake - they've ignored Homer Simpson's "it's funny because it's true." The best humor and satire work because they things they parody and attach are represented somewhat accurately. "Dogma" spoofs a "straw God" - a God of their own invention. And falls flat.

Is it funny? There are a couple of funny bits, but otherwise it's surprisingly lame in scripting and pace. I enjoy a good satire as much as the next guy ("Life of Brian" comes to mind, although again saddled with its addled "theology". But whereas Python is enjoyable because of their silliness, "Dogma" limps because it's just stupid and shows a pretentious non-understanding of the subject matter.) "Clerks" is infinitely better in these areas. (Warning for those who haven't watched it: "Clerks" is funny but quite vulgar.) Affleck and Damon are good at delivering what passes for sophistry these days, but the heroine, Bethany, is flat, lifeless, monotonic, and sardonic. Almost as if she didn't realize the camera was rolling and it was time to act. Chris Rock suffers through awful lines. Rickman is somewhat fun, although his lines suffer from the movie's childish theology.

Is it parody? Satire? People, it's just not intelligent enough for either. Unless "Can God make a rock to heavy for Himself to lift" is the extent of your idea of intelligent philosophizing.

As for charges that the Catholic Church slept throught the Holocaust - perhaps *reading* (since we're at Amazon, after all) some actual history will prevent such tired falsehoods from showing up in scripts in the future. Wasn't a Pope honored by the Jewish people for saving Jews? Seems to ring a bell...

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