A lot of fun.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Dogma is again Kevin Smith at his wittiest. This film will probably offend the theist but it's quite funny when it should be and doesn't hold back. In fact the ending is almost borderline crazy. Featuring a host of cameos as expected in Smith's films Dogma is a ripe comedy from the last months of the 90s. If you like comedy films which hold no punches then Dogma should be on your watch list.

Sound: Nice use of buzzing flies with the 3 skater/hockey players-Beelzebub lord of the flies, in conjunction with the sound of their skates. The orchestral score was along the lines of religious drama music we have heard before but not extremely well developed. Sound was mixed well. 60/100 Technical: Good use of off-screen violence. Competently shot but nothing really special here. 60/100 Narrative: Too much exposition. The film utilizes an apologia in the beginning to try and keep the watcher from being too harsh. A journey structure is used to propel the story; go from point A to point B with interactions to increase the dramatic points. 40/100 Character/Acting: Good character arcs. Some poor dialog and misuse of religious or theological terms. Use of Deus Ex Machina. 40/100 Did I enjoy it: Yes, even though it is controversial and questions/lampoons my beliefs. When paying attention this film has much more merit than The DaVinci Code or Angels and Demons and really addresses a lot of the publics' misunderstanding of theological truths; and really attacks pop culture based theology with logic errors. 70/l00 Artistic merit: Other than the controversial elements and addressing them in a comedy without apologia or authority; nothing much here. 50/100 FInal score 53.3/100

Is it wrong that I was raised secular and still found Dogma a surprisingly meaningful experience? I mean, regardless of whether Kevin Smith intended it to be so, the movie feels like pure wish fulfillment. One morning, a woman is awoken by Alan Rickman, who tells her she's some kind of Chosen One and must go on a quest. Okay, I'm sold!The dialogue is on the whole pretty funny. The message might be painfully obvious to anyone raised secular/liberal, but I think there's a bigger lesson to be learned that's not quite apparent. For instance, Bethany works in an abortion clinic and the plot doesn't punish her for it. She does get pregnant at the end, but she wanted a child before, and I can't see her job as resulting from frustration with her infertility. This movie demonstrates a tolerance for abortion that I haven't seen much in pop culture. Bethany is also in her 30s, usually an awkward age for a woman to be since you usually don't look virginal anymore and you might feel past your sell-by date. Hopefully characters like this might keep female audiences from being afraid of turning 30.Lots of movies with frequent strong language and sex talk sound immature because of it; in this one it's not at all gratuitous because of the sincere sentiment driving the story. After I first watched Dogma I was in the gladdest of moods--I even cried during the lake scene. Bethany is horrified to discover that she is the last descendant of Jesus. Metatron pulls her out of despair by telling her to be who she always saw herself as; not to feel limited because of the new label applied to her. She is "a redefinition of that identity." This exchange resonated on a deeply personal level with me, not because I'm a descendant of Jesus, but because I have high- functioning autism. For a long time I really wanted to be rid of this diagnosis--I am not Sheldon Cooper. But when I heard "redefinition of that identity," a cloud lifted. I can't articulate how much it means to hear those words come from my favorite actor. A million thanks, Kevin Smith.

The fallen Angel of Death Loki (Matt Damon) and his friend Bartleby (Ben Affleck) find a way to return to Heaven. Cardinal Glick (George Carlin) is revitalizing the church and rededicates St. Michael's Church in New Jersey. The papal sanctioned entrance allows all those who enter to have their sins forgiven. The two angels need to walk through the archway and then die to reenter Heaven. Catholic Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino) works at an abortion clinic and is struggling for faith. She is tasked by the angel Metatron (Alan Rickman), the voice of God, to stop the two angels or else it could undo all of God's work. To help her, he sends her two prophets, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Azrael (Jason Lee) and his hockey playing goons try to stop her. Along the way, they are aided by the 13th Apostle Rufus (Chris Rock) and the muse Serendipity (Salma Hayek).There are just so much religious exposition. It probably took up half of movie to explain who these characters are and what they represent. Towards the end, the whole thing gave me a headache. I think it is something very compelling for Catholics but less so for most everybody else. I guess all the complicated history is part of Kevin Smith's commentary on the religion.Some of the movie is more fun than other. I love Jay and Silent Bob. They're funny in this movie. Linda Fiorentino is a little dour but she's still pretty good as the lead. I got bored with the Damon Affleck massacre tour. It's not funny or compelling. The road trip works in the first half with some fun introductions of Chris Rock and Salma Hayek. The second half gets bog down from time to time. I probably would be happier with "Jay and Silent Bob Save Creation".