Dogma 1999

It can be Hell getting into Heaven

6.918 / 10   2392 vote(s)
R
Fantasy Comedy Adventure

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.

Homepage http://www.dogma-movie.com/
Release Date 1999-11-12
Runtime 2h 10m
Directors Kevin Smith, Robert D. Yeoman, James Alan Hensz, Deborah Mannis-Gardner, Scott Mosier, Augie Carton, Athena Alexander
Producers Scott Mosier, Jonathan Gordon, Laura Greenlee
Writers Kevin Smith, Gabbie Asher

I didn't know it at the time, but watching Mallrats on VHS as a kid was my first foray into View Askew, but it wasn't until Dogma that I realised there was something bigger and better I could latch on to with Kevin Smith at the helm.

Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time.

Gimly

I bought this as a DVD years ago assuming it was some kind of drama or thriller a la The DaVinci Code. Turns out it is a comedy - well, almost a farce it seems. As an atheist I am okay with mocking organized religion, but he plethora of blasphemy might be too much for some viewers.

There were a few plot holes that jumped out at me, but they were forgivable in this type of comedy. With a wink and a nod, they cast edgy comedian and atheist George Carlin as a big time evangelist or bishop or something.

It seemed to take a while for the various pieces of plot to merge together, unless it was just me being thick. The movie has some laughs and is well written in places. Alan Rickman looks like he is having fun, which meant that I did too when he was on screen. So yeah, it was a fun watch mostly, but on the other hand, I gave away the DVD, so there’s that.

Peter McGinn