Dogma

Rating:
Summary: This is an amazing movie!
Review: I cannot believe the negative remarks about this film! Kevin Smith's movies are INCREDIBLE, and this is another hilarious work. I have heard from some who get too engrossed in the idea that the story is blasphemous, blah, blah, blah. Watch the film and enjoy it! If you put your preconceived prejudices aside, you will really like the movie! It's funny as hell!

Rating:
Summary: Good idea with a mediocre execution
Review: Dogma is a funny movie indeed. My brother and I were laughing out loud in the theater at many of the jokes and I found it to be a very enjoyable form of religious satire. I particularly liked the portrayal of God as a playful girl who likes to smell flowers.

But where Kevin Smith drops the ball is in the dialogue. It seems that lots of the plot warranted explanation on his part, so he had almost every character read off twenty sentences at a time of rediculously contrived answers to theological questions. At its worst, Dogma starts to feel more like an after-school special than it does a religious satire.

But I have to hand it to Smith for doing this. It's not easy to write and direct a movie that pokes fun at the religion you grew up in only to have half the movie-going public cry blasphemy in your direction.

Still the cast is good and the jokes are funny. It's worth the hour-and-a-half of your time.

Rating:
Summary: Good idea, but too much violence detracts from satire
Review: This movie started with an intelligent, nervy idea, and is extremely well-cast. Trouble is, there's not enough cutting satire, and what there is gets overshadowed by some rather ugly scenes of ruthless violence. It doesn't matter how cute Matt Damon is, it's just not funny when he takes out a large handgun and blows innocent people's heads off. Ditto Ben Affleck, who's the lesser actor, and whose own adventure into bloodletting at the end ruined the film.

Salma Hayek and Alan Rickman totally outclassed everyone else in the production. The Jay character was not as funny as we wanted him to be (note to Kevin Smith: you can be lewd, and you can be crude, but it ain't funny if it ain't delivered right).

In short, not enough potshots at the church, and too many gunshots at the walk-ons.

Rating:
Summary: Kevin Smith
Review: All you people are really stoopid f*cks... can't you just enjoy the film for what it is? Stop reading between the lines and talking about the film being blasphemous. If you dont find it funny, then fine, maybe you just have "sophisticated" tastes but i dont give a f*ck, jay and silent bob was the best comedic duo ever created by the genius kevin smith

Rating:
Summary: grate movie
Review: i've seen this movie 1 1/2 times. and i just wanan say: it's awesome! and it's so true too...like that Buddy Christ is SO sumthing those catholics would do.
and it's got alot of good points in the movie from the bible that the catholics tend to hide. also, since the main chick in this movie is Jesus' great great great great great great great great great great niece, it just goes to show that jesus DID have bro's and sisters!! but that wasn't a surprise to me, since i READ the bible...something supposed "christians" tend not to do...
but this didn't get 5 starz cuz there WERE some parts that were offensive to me. being as i'm a Christian.
but all in all this got a Four. and i would recomend this movie to anyone, but there's too much swearing. although if there wasnt, i know lotsa ppl who would appreciate the true facts from the bible in this movie!

Rating:
Summary: The Emperor
Review: So, I saw this movie last year and was unimpressed; I was surprised because I expected to like it, having heard that it was a funny, intelligent movie. Today I decided to give it another chance and watch it again. I still didn't find it to be a very inspiring or entertaining film.

I noticed that the reviewers who said things like "This movie really made me THINK, man!" didn't mention what it made them think about. My theory about this film is that people see it and, rather than admit that they don't get it and risk sounding foolish, they act like there's this really profound message hidden there that they understand. I am here to tell you that there's really nothing to get. It's a very superficial movie. The emperor wears no clothes.

"Dogma", aside from a few chuckles and some talented actors (I have no idea what lured them), was intellectually empty. It left me cold. Okay, Catholicism is antiquated, people are losing faith in religion and becoming disinterested in churches, and organized religion contains more than its fair share of hypocrisies. Oh yeah, and we are a culture of brain-dead TV-o-philes who know nothing of history. Yadda yadda yadda. And the point?

I don't feel that any conclusions or solutions were made at the end of the film...I didn't get what Kevin Smith's big picture was supposed to be. The story had some references to historical characters (Azrael, the angel of death), but then had some other people who had names of famous historical characters for no apparent significance (i.e.:Bartleby is a character from a Melville novel about the tediousness of working; no relevance to character in movie), which was irritating. I guess I was trying to read between the lines to find some hidden meaning where there was none. When a movie is labeled as inventive, it generally means it's multi-layered, which Dogma is not.

George Carlin as a cheesy modern priest made for some limited chuckles. Jason Lee was a fascinating-to-watch Azrael. Salma Hayek had great energy and sex appeal. Jay and Bob were as boring as cement. Chris Rock was spritely and funny as the "13th apostle" (funny gimmick there). Linda Fiorentino was at her absolute worst. She pretty much rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically through the entire movie. Yawn. Janeane Garafolo had a cameo and would have been better in the lead. The casting of Alannis Morrissette as God and the whole ridiculous ending scene with her capering about like a lobotomized flower child was unintentionally hilarious.

I did enjoy Kevin Smith's other movies. I suppose if you're a big fan of his you'll want to see this. But I'm willing to point out the emperor's underwear.

Rating:
Summary: Devils and divinity
Review: Dogma, from the Greek word meaning opinion. Imagine that!

According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 'The original meaning of the word was "that which seems good", and hence it was applied by classical authors as a technical term either to the distinctive tenets of the various philosophical schools or to the decrees of public authorities.'

So, what does this have to do with the movie? Ironic as it seems for such a bizarre film, it all turns on a minor dogmatic point -- accepting that Roman Catholic dogma is the operative framework for the entire existence of the universe (something even I have yet to meet ANYONE who holds true), a logical inconsistency would render the universe inoperative, and thus it would blink out of existence.

--The Fallen Angels--
Enter the fallen angels. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon star as Bartleby and Loki, the angels who rebelled against God (not in the major, Satan-ic way, but in rather more minor work-stoppage way). They have been banned from heaven, and spend most of their time watching cartoons and hanging out in airports people-watching.

--The Dogmatic Hat-Trick--
In an attempt to 'update and popularise' Catholicism, a bishop in New Jersey (George Carlin, of all people) introduces a new campaign that includes a papal indulgence, which will absolve those who walk through the archway of a particular church. The angels discover this, and are determined to exploit this papal pronouncement to their benefit -- in dogmatic terms, whatever the pope says on earth is binding in heaven (not quite, but that's what the movie presents) -- and thus God cannot refuse them re-entry. This sets up the logical problem.

--The Last Scion--
The heavens charge a particular woman Bethany, (Linda Fiorentino), who turns out to be the last descendent of Jesus Christ's family (of course, the Bible left out the details of his family), with stopping the angels from reaching the church. In the course of her charge, she encounters the Voice of God (Alan Rickman) who appears as a flaming, burning-bush type of phenomenon, and promptly uses a fire-extinguisher to put out the flames.

--The Hellish Plot--
Azrael (Jason Lee), a minor leader of demons, has command of agents to try to stop the Last Scion from stopping the angels. Why? Well, I cannot tell you. This would give away too much of the film. But, suffice it to say, the forces of evil seem to want the angels to prove God wrong (or, at least some of the forces of evil want this). By the way, I am inclined to agree with this demon on at least one point -- central air conditioning is one of the greatest things in creation!

--The Prophets--
Yes, this being a View Askew production, we could hardly do without a visit from the guys from Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, who turn out to be the Prophets (actually, perhaps it is spelled 'profits'). Unlikely prophets (as, in fact, most prophets are), but basically good at heart.

--The Apostle--
Rufus (Chris Rock), the thirteenth apostle (also left out of the Bible, because of his race) appears to the Last Scion and the Prophets to help them in their quest.

--The Golden Calf--
Loki and Bartelby stop for a moment to pay a visit on a Disney-esque corporation for one last fling as vengeance and destruction angels. The icon of this corporation is a Golden Cow (or Calf), and their crime is encouraging the worshipping of false idols. Hmmmm... Perhaps not all of this movie is so off base.

--Seredipity--
'You people don't celebrate your religion, you mourn it', she says. Serendipity, once a concept, is now personified (in the actress of Salma Hayek), and joins the quest. She is the one who realises that the bishop's golf club, because it is blessed, is thus holy, and can be used against a demon (another piece of dogmatic finery - hmmm, perhaps I should bless my tennis racket!).

--The Conclusion--
Bartleby, who had normally been the voice of reason against Loki's brash fire-and-brimstone approach (well, he was the Angel of Death, after all), becomes upset at the efforts being used to stop them, and turns into a Satan-esque figure bent on opposing God.

But, where is God? We find out that God is missing (something that many in many religions can relate to much of the time, alas), only to discover that God likes to take the occasional holiday. The angels and the choirs of heaven are worried that Bartleby and Loki will succeed in destroying the universe while God is away from his(her) desk.

Oh, ye of little faith. God in the end, in the form of Alanis Morrisette, does show up to save the day, in more ways than one.

--The Priestly Commentary--
Lots of people were very offended at this film (just as some might be offended by this writing!). It does poke fun (scathing, caustic wit is more like it, in truth) at religion in general, Christianity in specific, and the Roman Catholic church in particular. As a priest, I thought there were some questionable scenes and would have preferred a little less foul language; but overall, I thought the premise and the storyline were creative and inventive. I'm quite surprised, actually, that it became a controversy -- I would never use this film for a catechism class, but my fellow seminarians and I had quite productive discussions talking about the topics brought up in the film.

Beware of the language and a few offensive scenes. But make a list of theological questions. See how many theological points that weren't in Charleton Heston films you don't know! We can have a productive discussion later.

Rating:
Summary: One of the worst films ever made
Review: DOGMA is easily one of the worst films ever released by a major studio. The only film I have seen that exceeds it terms of sheer stupidity is 20 DATES.

The film is so jaw-droppingly idiotic and incompetent that I rubbed my eyes several times while watching it, and asked myself, "Am I really seeing and hearing what I think I am?"

If you gave an eight-year-old a movie camera, s/he'd make a better film.

How is it possible that actors with respectable resumes such as Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Ben Affleck, and Chris Rock deigned to appear in this sickening morass of cinematic retardation?

After 45 minutes of 4th-grader scatological humor and sniggering-little-boy sexuality, I ran out of the theater. I HAVE NEVER LEFT A MOVIE THEATRE BEFORE THE END OF THE FILM BEFORE.

There is nothing---ABSOLUTELY NOTHING---"blasphemous" about this film. It couldn't be "blasphemous" if it wanted to! Blasphemy implies that you have some knowledge of the history of religion!!!

If you want to see real films that challenge Catholicism, look up Luis Bunuel!

Rating:
Summary: Good effort, but flawed, don't expect a masterpiece
Review: I give this movie, 3 and a half stars for a good effort. It could have been a 5 star movie if it wasn't for all of it's flaws, to me it seems like it was perhaps put together too quickly without thinking the whole thing through.
I believe what Kevin Smith was trying to say with his movie is that organized religion is bad. Bad because when it gets into the hands of people it becomes the religion of the people rather than something holy, it becomes manipulated. This idea could have been portrayed in a movie, but this movie is not the one.
The movie comes off as preachy in some parts, which is very annoying and corny. A lot of the reviewers here are angry that they bash the Catholic religion, but they miss the point that he is bashing all orgainized religion. This is it's main flaw, it does not make this clear for a number of reasons. First, it uses everything from the Bible. So a direct interpetation would be that Kevin Smith is saying that Christian religions have the right idea but they manipulate it...as for all the other religions (budism, hinduism) well they can all go to hell!
I understand Smith's point but he does not make it clear enough that he is bashing organized religion and not one specific one. Anyone that doesn't believe in the bible can be very offended by the movie because this movie, though some people say 'it makes one search for thier own beliefs', it doesn't. It makes one search for thier own beliefs within the bible.
I know that Smith was not saying that the bible is the basis of everything with this movie, but like I said, this movie was not thought out well enough. It was flawed.

Like I said, I give it 3 1/2 stars, the reason I show it as four instead of three here is not because I am leaning towards four stars, but because this movie had more than just philosophy to offer. It had comedy, and for that it is a very good movie. I reccomend this movie to anyone who wants a good laugh. It will give you a few! If you don't anylyze the film it can be very enjoyable simply because it is funny.

So to sum everything up: Nice try at having philosophy in your movie Kevin Smith, but it didn't work like you wanted it too. But it was funny. Don't take my word though, go rent it and have a good laugh.

Rating:
Summary: WAKE UP!!
Review: This movie is great. It is really interesting. This movie has often been accused of being offensive and a mockery. What's so offensive. Plus, at the beginning, it tells you that the movie is not to be taken seriously. It is a work of comedic fantasy. They're not making fun of Catholicism. They are exploring the possibilities. Everyone has questions that they want answered. But there are billions of questions that can't just be answered. It's not that simple. This movie is exactly what people needed. It is thought-provoking. Yoy don't have to love it. Nobody's forcing you to. Plus, there is a lot of truth in this movie. It has many interesting points. I mean it kind of helps people come to a realization. I mean, how hard to you think it would be if you were a twelve-year-old boy, who wanted nothing more than to play with other kids his age and live his life. Then one day, someone tells you that you are the only son of The Almighty God, and what this means is a lifetime of persecution and eventual execution in front of the very people you have come to love. How could you come terms with something like that. You are here for a purpose. Whatever that purpose may be, you make a difference.