Photo: (from left to right)
Bobby, Senh, and Ben  

 


Senh -- Kevin Smith (- Clerks, Chasing Amy) is on a roll. His movies are gutsy, funny, witty, and original . Dogma delivers on all four counts. Although I'm not well versed in the Bible, my general knowledge of it is enough for me to get most of the jokes; of course, it's probably a lot funnier if you know the Bible inside out. The humor is mostly very subtle. It's not a laugh-out-loud type of movie. Most of the time, if you don't pay attention to the dialogue, a lot of jokes will fly right by you.

Like Kevin Smith's previous films, Dogma also has it's fair share of explicit sex jokes. Jay (Jason Mewes) contantly ask Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) for sex. Speaking of Jay, he and Silent Bob has a lot of screen time in Dogma - a little too much. I like Jay and Silent Bob's (Kevin Smith) characters, but they're better in smaller dosages. With so much screen time, Silent Bob seems to have only a few facial expressions and body gestures to express himself. Overall, most of the acting are pretty good. However, I do have a problem with Linda Fiorentino (although she was great in The Last Seduction and Men In Black). It's not her acting, it's her voice. She sounds so different from everyone else. She sounds like she belongs in a different type of movie - maybe a film noire. It's just a minor complaint, though.

The production value on Dogma is a lot better than Kevin Smith's previous films. It looks like Kevin Smith's been playing around with special effects. The film also presents lots of interesting answers to questions that the church going public might be afraid to ask. What does an angel's private part look like? Why are all of the apostles white? Why aren't there any woman apostles? If you're intriqued by these questions, you'll probably like the film. Dogma is audacious, and it's humor is sharp.

Ben -- While I haven't seen any of Kevin Smith's movies before Dogma, I have heard good things about his movies with the exception of Mallrats. After seeing Dogma, I'm now a fan of his. The issues brought up about religion, Catholicism in particular, are something someone with experience with religion would bring up, but they are still thought-provoking nonetheless. Besides a few exceptions, the jokes are never of the big laugh variety but they are still funny. As there are lots of in-jokes about religion, those who knows about Catholicism may get more milage out of the movie...or get really offended - it all depends if you have a sense of humor or not.

Acting wise, the cast is really good. Linda Fiorentino sometimes seems like she's just reading her lines, but most of the time she's pretty decent. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon look like they are having fun playing the banished angels. Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith play the unlikely pair of Jay and Silent Bob - they keep the movie from being too bogged down by religious jokes. Chris Rock chews up the scenery and delivers some of the funniest lines, but I think I need therapy after seeing his naked body (couldn't you have used a different camera angle, Kevin?). Then there's the Shit Demon. You'll just have to see that one for yourself, I'm not sure I can do it justice.

After Dogma, my appetite is whetted for more Kevin Smith movies. Kudos to Kevin Smith for having the courage to make something like this. Its nice to see a movie about Catholicism religion from a humanistic perspective. If you can stomach strong language, nudity, violence, and having your faith challenged, you're in for a pretty funny movie. Although when God finally shows up, it's kind of underwhelming, but it's still better than a burning bush.

Bobby -- Dogma is one of my most anticipated movies of the Fall. I went in with high hope, and I wasn't a bit disappointed. The movie was hilarious, witty, and bold. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were great as mischievous angels who were expelled from heaven. They have good chemistry together and their exchanges are quite funny. Linda Fiorentino, playing a descendent of Jesus, gave a decent performance with her usual husky but sexy voice. The supporting cast was wonderful with Chris Rock as the 13th Apostle who made his appearance by falling out of the sky butt naked. He had some of the cleverest and funniest lines. Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes did a fine job as Silent Bob and Jay, respectively. Other notable supporting cast include Alan Rickman as angel Metatron, Salma Hayek as the muse Serendipity, and Jason Lee as the demon Azrael. Director/writer Kevin Smith is very bold and witty. He made God a women, added a 13th Apostle, and made Jesus black. He basically challenged the whole Catholic dogma. I give this movie a juicy fresh tomato. For those of you who are sensitive to jokes about Catholicism and Christian religion may want to skip Dogma.