Catholicism…WOW!

Every generation has a movie that they can point too, and tell you all about how it left an impression on them. Some good, some bad, and some life changing. Now, I’m not claiming that this title changed my life in anyway, but it did give me lots of laughs, and looking deeper than just the surface jokes and attitude, there is a philosophical point made by director Kevin Smith.

Known for comedy greats such Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike back and Chasing Amy, Smith has always been a little unconventional in how he presents his material. Most of the time, you can tell that his releases are very independent in nature, and lacking a serious budget, but packing serious talent! And it’s Smith’s ability to get the most out the on-screen talent along with brilliant, if not sometimes, laboured scripting.

“Dogma” is a story about how two ousted Angels, Bartelby and Loki, attempt to re-enter Heaven after having a very drunken evening, resulting in the massacre at Sodom and Gomorrah. However, entering Heaven again after being expelled would prove God to be fallible, and would undo all creation.
Charged with stopping the angels is Bethany, a down on her luck and God-despising feminist who is charged with the task, and along with Jay and Silent Bob, attempt to prevent all creation from being blinked out of existence.

The Cast

This film packs a real punch with it’s cast, many of which are long-time collaborators with Kevin Smith. First and foremost among them is Matt Damon as Loki and Ben Affleck as Bartleby, the two angels attempting to get back into heaven. Kevin Smith is fantastic as Silent Bob and Jason Mewes stars as Jay, two stoners who cause absolute chaos and calamity wherever they go.
Linda Fiorentino is Bethany, and in my opinion, often feels like she ‘Phones In’ her performance. Chris Rock appears as Rufus, the 13th Apostle, left out of the Bible because he’s black, and the amazing Alan Rickman as The Metatron, the true voice of God.
Co-Starring along side them is Jason Lee, Salma Hayek, George Carlin and a cameo by Alanis Morissette.

The Script

The script for the most part is on point, with only a few instances where i think it falls a bit flat. Thankfully, these moments are few and far between, and the scripting does recover very quickly, especially with some very heart-warming moments and crazy humour.
The humour of this film may not be for everyone, especially if you are of a religious disposition. If that’s the case, I suggest you move on to something a little more ‘safe’.
Written by Smith (as are most of his films), Dogma doesn’t need to try to keep you focused and engaged purely through visual trickery. The pacing of this writing is more than enough to carry the film from scene to scene. Yes, there’s lots of swearing, yes there’s gross-out humour, but it’s all done with the kind of flair only Kevin Smith can write.

The Score

Written by Howard Shore, the music to this film is often quite grand in scale, and has often been compared to that of a LOTR offering. Personally I think that is a bit of a stretch, but still, it’s very good, and compliments the film very well. The one thing it never does is carry the film, which I really appreciate.
Out of all the scored efforts in any of Kevin Smith’s collection, Dogma is still the standout in terms of it’s orchestral tones.

Special and Visual Effects

As with almost all films these days, CGI and overly large effects make up the action and tone. This is something I’ve become very weary of over the past ten years, especially during the Marvel vs DC era.
So, it’s exceptionally refreshing to see that the use of effects is largely practical in Dogma, with very little use of CGI (the Golgothian and Jason Lee’s horns…if you know, you know) and much of the film adopting in-camera effects. I suspect this is largely down to budget constraints, which was a very small $10 Million Dollars. Yet as we often see, some the cheapest made films are often the most creative in how they deal with intensive areas such as Special Effects. The Blair Witch and Obsession are chief among these examples.

Film to 4K Transfer

As with many transfers of older films, the transfer from 35mm film to Disc format is dependant on the quality of the reels. In this case, the transfer is excellent and looks just as good as it did when it first released. This is in part to the film never having had a full transfer before due to legal rights issues. Once Kevin Smith acquired the rights from the now defunct Harvey Weinstein, he was able to bring back the film in all it’s glory. Now, don’t expect anything mind-blowing here. the transfer is good as I’ve said, but it’s not given any special treatment in any way.

Overall Thoughts

The original physical release of Dogma, especially on Blu-Ray became so widely unavailable and neared nearly £180 for a second hand copy! Because of those legal issues acquiring the rights to the film, no copies were made after Miramax went under, and Weinstein found himself incarcerated. So, the film found itself locked away in a vault while second hand copies on Blu-Ray became as valuable as gold to collectors. Yes, you could get it on DVD, but that’s nowhere near as good as High Def, right?
Anyway, it’s here now in all it’s glory, and frankly I’m overjoyed with it. Yes, you do need a 4K player, which are not as expensive as they once were, or if you have a PS5 or Xbox Series X, you can enjoy this at no extra cost.

Dogma has a very special place in my heart. It made me laugh over and over, and while I found it’s jokes at religion to be nothing more than that, you may find offence if you are in any way of religious standing.

The humour is at times ludicrous and while can be a little gross, it’s all done to make you belly laugh.

With that said, I give this film…