Cinema Has Risen: Dogma: Resurrected! A 25th Anniversary Celebration

Courtesy of Triple Media Film

Returning for a few days in theaters around the country after being toured to certain cities for a couple of months is Kevin Smith’s Dogma. The movie about fallen angels trying to return to heaven only to be stopped by the last scion starred Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, and George Carlin. Last fall Smith announced Dogma was no longer owned by disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein and would rerelease the movie in theaters in 2025, as well as possibly make a sequel.

As previously mentioned in ‘The Movie Nerds’, Dogma had gone through a rough journey between Michael Eisner nearly canning the movie back in 1999 after protests from some Catholic groups and Weinstein refusing to give the movie back to Smith unless he paid a ton of money, even after Weinstein was found guilty of his crimes. Smith revealed at Cannes that a filmmaker and actress named Alessandra Williams managed to buy Dogma when it and other movies were liquidated by Weinstein. Smith revealed in an interview that Williams grew up a fan of Dogma, raised money to buy it, and reached out to Smith on if he wanted to see it re-released. With Dogma back in theaters under the name Dogma: Resurrected! A 25th Anniversary Celebration: Is it still one of Smith’s best works, and should he revisit it with another project?

Dogma’s cast is the most interesting cast you would see in a movie. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in the early years of their career star as Bartleby and Loki, two angels who try to get back into heaven. Alan Rickman, two years before he would become more popular as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series, plays the Metatron, the voice of God. Smith revealed in a Q&A that Rickman approached him to play this role and the two remained close friends after Dogma until Rickman’s passing in 2016. Emma Thompson almost played God but withdrew when she became pregnant, and singer Alanis Morissette ultimately landed the role of God.

Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith once again play the iconic duo of Jay and Silent Bob. Smith had Mewes memorize the script and behave himself as he would share scenes with Rickman and was worried it would annoy Rickman. In reality, Mewes and Rickman got along well on set having conversations behind the scenes, and according to Smith, Rickman found Mewes to be fascinating and an American icon. George Carlin, who in real life was an atheist, played Cardinal Glick, who tries to get more people to church with the now iconic ‘Buddy Christ’ symbol. Smith was inspired by Carlin’s comedy routine and reached out to Carlin’s agent to meet with the comedian to play the role. The movie has cameos from Clerks stars Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson in different roles.

Ben Affleck gives one of his best performances, especially in the second half when Bartleby goes crazier and resents God for expelling him and giving humans free will. Jason Mewes is at his funniest as Jay in Dogma. At the end of the movie, he goes off on the most hilarious rant he has ever gone on. Matt Damon shows his more comedic side as Loki and starts off crazy but then realizes Bartleby is taking things too far with destroying humanity and tries to set things right at one point. Chris Rock also entertains with his comedic lines as Rufus the 13th Apostle who is annoyed to have been left out of the Bible. Linda Fiorentino as Bethany the Last Scion is good, although a few times her line dialogue comes across as a bit flat. She is the most realistic character in this movie, representing someone who still goes to church, but due to a lot of unfortunate stuff happening to her, her faith is dwindling as well as being freaked out by all the craziness happening around her. Her reaction to learning about her relation to Jesus is her best performance in the movie. Jason Lee as Azrael provides a witty antagonist who is evil, yet surprisingly calmer than Lee’s other characters in previous Kevin Smith movies like Brodie Bruce from Mallrats and Banky Edwards from Chasing Amy. He manipulates Bartleby and Loki into trying to get back into heaven. Alan Rickman pulls off the sarcasm and mentorship of the Metatron well and plays off of all the actors he worked with in Dogma well, especially Jason Mewes.

The humor in Dogma is hilarious, and Smith’s best humor after his first movie, Clerks. Jason Mewes, Alan Rickman, George Carlin, and Chris Rock have the best dialogue in the entire movie and are the driving forces of the humor. There are jokes poking fun at religion, but nowhere near offensive as it could have been. In fact, the movie does have an interesting discussion on people losing their faith and whether people really still worship Catholicism or are mourning it. Despite the wacky antics and humor, Dogma will speak to people losing their faith and represents a significant part of Kevin Smith’s life. The choice for God to be a woman is interesting and adds to the humor.

The group that helps Bethany on her quest to stop Bartleby and Loki feels like an odd fellowship that is wacky and entertaining. Howard Shore does the score well and would later do the score for The Lord of The Rings movies a couple of years later. The action may not be the most epic looking, but for one of Smith’s earlier movies, it does enough to show the audience a lot is at stake. Also, the fictional television character Mooby who created many television specials, fast-food restaurants, and theme parks in the View Askewnivers is introduced and becomes a staple in the film universe, including the new workplace of Dante and Randal after the Quick Stop burns down in Clerks II. One of the most intense scenes in the movie is when Bartleby and Loki go to Mooby’s headquarters to reveal the sins of their board and take them out.

Dogma won’t be a movie for everyone, not just in regard to satirical humor on religion, that some people might not find funny. Some viewers might find jokes to be outdated and not that funny if they don’t enjoy Kevin Smith movies. There is a great sequence with a creature called the Golgathon that some viewers might feel disgusted with. Smith revealed the sequences with the Golgathon were the hardest to film and the actor in the suit even passed out on set one day while in the suit. Jay’s unfiltered language could turn some people off. Dogma is more action and violence-themed than his other View Askewinverse movies, both before and after Dogma. Smith has revealed his desire to make a sequel to Dogma and wants to bring it to Cannes like he did with the original movie.

It would be interesting to see what Smith could do with a Dogma sequel. At the same time, Linda Fiorentino has been retired for years, and Alan Rickman passed away in 2016, so the roles of Bethany and the Metatron would either have to be written out or be recast. Rickman was so great in the role it’s hard to see anyone else play it. As of right now, Smith has only mentioned trying to get back Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for Bartleby and Loki, but they haven’t officially agreed to return. It’s likely Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith would come back as Jay and Silent Bob as they usually do. It’s unknown when it will come out, as Smith wants to make sure that it’s done correctly. According to Deadline, Smith is eying 2028 to make a Dogma 2 and bring it to Cannes, which would be 29 years since Dogma came out.

Overall, it’s amazing to see Dogma be resurrected in theaters. The fans still love this movie as they laughed in the theater I saw it in. The cast remains one of the most unique casts put together. It’s unknown when Dogma will be released on home media again or if it will find a home in a streaming service down the road. All we know is Kevin Smith’s iconic, controversial movie has risen, and fans are rightfully celebrating it. My final grade for Dogma is an A. If you love Kevin Smith’s movies, you should check out Dogma. What are your thoughts on Dogma, and have you seen it in theaters as Dogma: Resurrected! A 25th Anniversary Celebration? Will you see Dogma: Resurrected! A 25th Anniversary Celebration? Do you want to see a sequel? Let us know in the comments below.