Dogma (1999) 4K Edition Review
Dogma (1999) 4K Edition Review
DOGMA will be returning to UK and Irish cinemas on 7th November in a stunning 4K restoration to mark its 25th anniversary. Originally released in 1999, writer & director Kevin Smith unleashed this religious satire that sparked conversation, controversy, and cult fandom around the world. Featuring an all-star cast including Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Chris Rock, and George Carlin.
In the remastered 4K edition, DOGMA (now coined DOGMA: REESURRECTED) reintroduces audiences to the story of Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), two banished angels who seek to exploit a theological loophole and return to Heaven – thereby inadvertently nullifying all of existence. A reluctant abortion clinic worker Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) is tasked with stopping them, guided by a heavenly host that includes the last scion of Christ, a muse, a pair of prophets, and the voice of God.
DOGMA, writer & director Kevin Smith’s fourth film in his View Askewniverse series, attracted controversy upon its release for its stance on Catholicism and deemed blasphemous by certain religious factions, including The Catholic League, even before it opened theatrically. Whilst never officially denounced by any official church spokesperson that did not deter groups from staging protests outside any theatre that the film played at. Kevin Smith attended one such protest, no doubt for a giggle, and pretended to protest his own film.
As is often the case with any such controversy the film became a hit. This prompted Smith to consider writing a follow-up which, to this day, has yet to materialize, partly due to issues over the film’s rights – Smith had a long struggle with getting the rights back from the film’s imprisoned producer Harvey Weinstein – and also due to not knowing whether he would be able to get Ben Affleck and Matt Damon for cameo appearances. Given that Smith received, in his own words, “400,000 pieces of hate mail and three bona fide death threats” for DOGMA perhaps a second film would prove as contentious and with us now being in the social media age, something still to come to fruition back at the tail end of the 20th Century, such ire would be ten-fold – something Smith, or anyone else for that matter, could arguably do without.
DOGMA was well received by critics upon its release and over the years, much like Smith’s other films, has acquired a cult following. Whilst the likes of his earlier work such as his break-out hit CLERKS and his later CHASING AMY still endear themselves to me thirty-odd years later, DOGMA is a mixed bag. It starts strong but soon feels much of a sameness and is far too long at just over two-hours runtime. Part of the issue is that regardless of some interesting and eclectic casting – rock singer Alanis Morrisette and the late great stage and film actor Alan Rickman sharing screentime with Smith regulars Jason Mewes, Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson and Jason Lee – all of the dialogue sounds like the voice of just one person, that person obviously being the person who wrote it, Kevin Smith, who paradoxically says nothing, aside from one word, throughout the whole film as Silent Bob. On paper it reads well but onscreen it plays out differently.
Add to that DOGMA’s lack of cinematic finesse, which works for the likes of CLERKS and CHASING AMY, and you could end up wondering whether if this might have worked better as a stage play rather than a film geared towards a big screen release. Smith is a gifted comic but tends to be in love with his own voice and DOGMA suffers for an overabundance of his religious ideology no matter which character is speaking the dialogue. Does DOGMA gain anything from a 4K treatment? Not really, if anything it only highlights its visual shortcomings.
Vertigo Releasing will re-release the film theatrically in the UK & Ireland in glorious 4K from 7th November.
