Dogma
Dogma
Two fallen angels who were ejected from paradise find themselves banned in Wisconsin. They are now headed for New Jersey where they find a loophole that can get them back into heaven. The only catch is that it will destroy humanity. A group bands together to stop them.
vangh1 reviewed7d ago
Re-visited this in theatre for the re-release, having not seen it for approximately 20 years but having fond memories of it.
Having seen a couple of interviews with Kevin Smith where he insists Dogma isn't meant to be an inflammatory work lambasting religion, it's really clear that that's true. Of course, he takes a lot of creative liberties with the good book as well, in the name of interesting storytelling, and he is just an irreverent storyteller by nature so it's nonetheless no surprise how much negative backlash this has seen. He also described it as a bible story by way of badass superheroes and super villains and it's easy see the overlap there for sure.
This time around I was struck by how 90% of the dialogue in this thing is either exposition or a throwaway joke (the former being necessary given the marriage of high concept plot and religious mythology, the latter because Kevin Smith) but it still works because the idea and execution are just that fun, and because the other 10% of dialogue is pretty much every character getting at least one badass monologue.