UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Adventure >

Dogma

Dogma (1999)

November. 12,1999
|
7.3
|
R
| Adventure Fantasy Comedy

The latest battle in the eternal war between Good and Evil has come to New Jersey in the late, late 20th Century. Angels, demons, apostles and prophets (of a sort) walk among the cynics and innocents of America and duke it out for the fate of humankind.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Ensofter
1999/11/12

Overrated and overhyped

More
LouHomey
1999/11/13

From my favorite movies..

More
Hayden Kane
1999/11/14

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

More
Maleeha Vincent
1999/11/15

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

More
tomherg
1999/11/16

Pretty much a no brainer, one of Matt Damons better performances. Many people that watch the film simply overthink it, as in they feel insulted. But in the end it is just an early show of when the decline of this industry started. When the heads are corrupt and disgusting Pedros, what do you expect. Anyways, Matt Damon was OK, so 3 out of 10. Never again.

More
Mr-Fusion
1999/11/17

I was fully expecting Alan Rickman to walk away with "Dogma", even with such an impressive cast. And he comes close. But what I absolutely did not see coming was just how funny Jay is in this movie. I've always preferred Silent Bob, but Mewes is a riot. This isn't my favorite of the View Askewniverse. It's long-winded and the incessant conversations on scripture mythology get old. You can tell Kevin Smith was exorcising some self-doubt here, but by the time the gang gets trapped in the bar, I'd mostly checked out. I can't hate on a movie that's given the world Buddy Christ, but at a certain point, I was missing that first half pretty hard.6/10

More
sol-
1999/11/18

When two renegade angels threaten to bring about the end of the world, an agnostic abortion clinic worker is given a divine quest to stop them, something that helps her regain her faith in this energetic Kevin Smith comedy. The plot is a tad too complex with a lot of exposition (and therefore dialogue) required, which provides some pacing issues. The film has a lot of interesting things to say though, and curiously enough, it is not half as sacrilegious as one might expect. Smith actually delivers some positive messages about faith while taking quite a few shots at organised religion and the commercial value that some place on religion - an agenda especially apparent with an absurd new crucifix that the Catholics in the film release to try to attract new parishioners! The film is frequently funny too, though mostly when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are on screen as the fallen angels. Damon's take on the Angel of Death is especially amusing given his boyish looks. There is a superb sequence in which he intrudes on a board meeting to wreak havoc in the name of divine justice, though his funniest bits come from the baffled reactions of all those around him - in particular, an old lady in a elevator and a gun salesman. Linda Fiorentino is less effective as the abortion clinic worker and fun as it is to have Jay and Silent Bob along for the ride, the 'good' characters here are significantly less enticing than the baddies. 'Dogma' is, however, generally a fun ride with a handful of interesting things to say. The anti-platypus 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' style opening credits are also a treat.

More
GusF
1999/11/19

The fourth film in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse, this is an hilarious and thought-provoking film which cleverly explores the nature of faith. Due to the fact that it treats Catholicism in a very flippant fashion, it was somewhat controversial at the time of its release and was even denounced by the Catholic League as "blasphemy." However, it is best to take the film about as seriously as it takes its subject matter. It features numerous criticisms, both explicit and implicit, of Catholicism and organised religion in general and I have to say that I agreed with every one of them. Smith's writing is excellent and his direction is getting better and better with every film. He is much better able to handle the stunts and special effects than he was in "Mallrats" but wisely keeps the focus on the characters.I don't generally comment on such things in my reviews but, as far my own religious heritage goes, I was raised Catholic but I am now an agnostic. At one point, Bethany Sloane describes feeling inspired as a child when she attended Mass. I have to admit that I never felt that way. I did not question Catholic teaching when I was younger because I was too young to question it but, in retrospect, there was always a sense of going through the motions. The countless revelations of corruption and abuse in the Catholic Church, particularly in my native Ireland, did not exactly endear it to me either. Other than my sister's wedding, I can't remember the last time that I even entered a church.The plot concerns the fallen angels Loki and Bartleby, played very well by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who were expelled from Heaven after getting drunk and objecting to the tenth plague of Egypt. They discover a loophole in Catholic canon law in the form of a plenary indulgence in a soon to be rededicated New Jersey church which would allow them to reenter Heaven but doing so would prove that God is not infallible and consequently lead to the destruction of all Creation, which would be a shame. In order to prevent this from happening, Heaven calls upon the services of the last scion Bethany Sloane and the two prophets, namely - who else? - Jay and Silent Bob. Linda Fiorentinio is wonderful as Bethany. By far the most realistic character in the film, she is a bitter, cynical Catholic abortion clinic worker who is suffering a crisis of faith in large part because her husband left her because she cannot have children. She attends Mass every Sunday but she gets nothing out of it and is not even sure why she goes. However, she is thrown into the deep end when she is visited by the archangel Metratron, the Voice of God. Over the course of the film, she struggles to come to terms with the fact that she was uncertain about God's very existence one day and is on a mission from Him (or Her!) the next. The antics of the borderline sex pest Jay are not of much comfort to her.The fallen angels are very interesting characters. Loki is a fun lovin' former angel of death who enjoys messing with people by convincing them that God does not exist. He also gets a giddy thrill out of getting up to his old tricks and killing sinners. At first, Bartleby is the more staid and sensible of the two as he wants to keep a low profile and not risk God finding out about their plans to return upstairs. However, he experiences an epiphany when he realises that God has infinite patience for His favoured creations, namely humans, but He expelled them from Heaven after one mistake. Although Bartleby has learned that their plan will negate all existence, he still intends to go through with it, which astonishes and disgusts Loki. Affleck is no Laurence Olivier but is very good at playing Bartleby's anger and quest for vengeance.Jay and Silent Bob have larger roles than in any of the previous three films and, as the former, Jason Mewes has most of the funniest lines in the film. It is a shame that Mewes has never had a big career outside of Smith's films as he is incredibly funny. Silent Bob is less verbose than in "Chasing Amy" but manages to save Bethany's life numerous times throughout the film. Alan Rickman, a far better comedic actor than he is a dramatic actor, is likewise extremely funny as the frequently drunk Metatron, who is bitter that most Christians do not know that he exists since there has never been a film about him. I have never been a big fan of Chris Rock either but he is very good here as Rufus, the thirteenth apostle who was left out of the Bible because he is black. The same is true of Salma Hayek as the muse Serendipity, who works at a strip club and was responsible for inspiring 19 of the top 20 highest grossing films of all time. Sadly for Metatron, none of them were about him. Jason Lee is both very funny and suitably villainous as the horned demon Azrael. George Carlin does not have much screen time but he is absolutely hilarious as the unorthodox Cardinal Glick, who seeks to revamp the Catholic Church's image through his Catholicism Wow! campaign. Oh, and Alanis Morissette plays God. Isn't it ironic, don't ya think? Actually, like the contents of her dreadful song, it isn't. The film also features great small appearances from Bud Cort, Janeane Garofalo, Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson (making his first appearance since "Clerks") and Dwight Ewell.Overall, this is an excellent film which does not take its subject matter too seriously but manages to say some very interesting things about religion, good and bad, along the way.

More