Dogma is the latest movie from writer/director Kevin Smith. Fans of
Smith's have been waiting for this movie ever since his first movie Clerks,
where at the end of the closing credits the following was promised:
"Jay and Silent Bob will return in Dogma"
Well, a number of years and two movies later, Dogma has arrived with as much
hoopla as the Second Coming. It's been surrounded by controversy for the past
few months before its release, and now that it has found its way into theatres,
one can only hope that it lives up to the controversy. And, in a way, it does.
Note the use of the phrase "in a way." The thing is, the movie is not blasphemous
in any way at all. Not that I can see. There is no talk against God, but there
is talk criticizing the Church, and if criticizing the Church is what makes up
blasphemy, then almost every one in the known world is guilty. Of course, other
criticizms have come up, such as angels swearing and killing people, the thirteenth
apostle hanging in a strip club and oogling the stripper (make note: while he's
checking out her wares, he's also trying to figure out where he knows her from, and
he and Bethany followed Jay and Silent Bob there in the first place).
One must note, before continuing, that this movie is steeped in Catholic mythology.
Smith definitely did his homework before writing this flick, and it shows. The amount
of accuracy within the use of such terms as ceraphim and muse, among others, is
quite refreshing in an industry that takes the basics of a mythology and twists it
until it is unrecognizable.
As most of us know by now, Dogma is about two fallen angels, Loki and Bartleby, who
find a loophole to get themselves back into heaven. The background to these two
is quite simple: Loki is the former angel of death, thrown out because Bartleby,
described as a sort of guardian angel, talked him out of it. I don't know exactly
why Bartleby was tossed, but a good chance is it's because of his involvment with
Loki's attempted change of venue.
Enter Bethany, the last Scion, who is charged by the Voice of God Metatron ("whenever
some yahoo claims they're talking to God, they're talking to me... or to themselves.")
to stop these angels from entering through the arches of a Church in New Jersey and
hence have their sins forgiven and go back into heaven. The problem with this would
be that it would prove God to be fallible and hence negate all of existence.
That's what we call a "bad thing."
Bethany soon runs into the popular and recurring characters of Jay and Silent Bob,
who save her life. Metatron told her they would guide her and take her to where she
needs to be, and so she buys them coffee and asks if she could go with them back to
New Jersey. (as a side note, how the two slackers got to Illinois is all explained
in detail in the recently concluded Jay and Silent Bob 4-issue comic book mini-series
released by Oni-Press; Jay gives a very brief synopsis, giving only the beginning and
the end of their quest, during their talk with Bethany in the diner) They are soon
accompanied by the Thirteenth Apostle, named Rufus. Their odyssey to Jersey takes
a fairly long time, and the movie can seem to drag (though I felt it was perfect
length), but it's well worth it.
The cast itself is all-star. Linda Fiorentino plays Bethany, Mat Damon is Loki, Ben
Affleck is Bartleby, Chris Rock is Rufus, Jason Lee is Azreal, Salma Hayek plays the
muse Serendipity, Alanis Morisette is God, Alan Rickman is Metatron, and Jason Mewes
and Kevin Smith play the somnabulic duo of Jay and Silent Bob, respectively. The cast
is perfect, and they deliver their thoughtful lines with the right amount of... well,
whatever... that is needed.
And the fact that the Church is so gung-ho against this movie just goes to show how
little a sense of humour some of its leaders have. It is truly pathetic that they would
claim a movie like this to be blasphemous. So angels swear and kill. So what? If one
can go against God and cause a war in heaven (I speak of Satan, obviously), then why
can't a pair of fallen angels swear? And as for the killing, one of them was the angel
of death, after all.
The movie itself is satirical in essence. It sends up the Catholic Church from the
first time we see a Cardinal reveal the first few steps of "Catholicism Wow!" in an
attempt to make the Church more "hip" to get more constituents (this is, in effect,
one of the reasons Loki and Bartleby can pass through the arches and have all their
sins forgiven; there's more to it, the fact that the Church in question is celebrating
its centennial, which is why their sins can be forgiven in such a way). The "Buddy
Christ" was, by far, one of the funniest images of the movie.
And Chris Rock is fabulous as Rufus, who wasn't in the Bible because he was black (they
had twelve more people to choose from). He's on a constant crusade to get that little
wrong righted, as well as one other thing: To let the truth about Jesus' ethnicity known
(he was black, in the Gospel according to Rufus). The man is full of wisdom and sarcasm.
When he reveals he was stoned to death, Bethany says to him "You were martyred?" His
reply I will never forget: "You could say that. You could also say that I was bludgeoned
to shit by really big rocks..."
Rufus is also the man who poses the most radical ideas about faith and religion in general.
if the Church is against any one character in this movie, it would be Rufus. I won't get
into what he says, for the main reason that Smith's script explains the concepts revealed
in this movie much better than I could ever hope to; suffice it to say, though, that what
Smith discusses in this movie I have more or less felt for years now.
Suffice it to say, I loved this movie. I thought it was funny and thoughtful, and I'm
looking forward to its video release. Jay and Silent Bob kick ass, as well. But, then,
I've loved the two since the first time I saw them in Chasing Amy (Smith's third movie,
but the first one that I saw). And if you remember how the characters were introduced
in Clerks, then you'll recognize the re-emergence of it in this movie (their names flash
briefly on the screen as the characters are introduced). Also, try to spot the numerous
mentions of Smith's prior three films, they're there I garauntee it. They have been
since Mallrats.
I strongly recommend this movie. The foul language may be a bit much for the more
sensitive of movie goers, but this was such a funny, insightful movie that I can't
not recommend it. Go see it.
"SNOOTCH TO THE MOTHER FUCKING NOOTCH!"