Bethany: Having beliefs isn’t good?
Rufus: I think it’s better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier…
— Dogma (1999)
There are some directors whose work influences you in surprising ways. Of the many filmmakers working past and present, few have as much as Kevin Smith has on this reviewer, specifically for the above quote. Released wide November 1999, Smith’s Dogma would enrage some and delight others, his narrative using concepts and characters from within the Catholic faith married with the frequent vulgarity of his View Askew Productions, which, to this point, consisted of Clerks (1994), Mallrats (1995), and Chasing Amy (1997). In the more than 25 years since its release, Dogma is not only among the favored of Smith’s various projects, it’s typically considered the best for its tongue-in-cheek approach which reveres the faithful and skewer the idolators. Now, with the rights removed from Miramax via assistance from a third party, Smith has taken Dogma on a roadshow dubbed Dogma: The Resurrection Tour in lead to a wider re-release in June. But this isn’t just a regular re-release, this version of Smith’s Dogma is remastered and color-corrected in 4K by Dogma’s own cinematographer Robert D. Yeoman (Asteroid City; The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), giving audiences the best-looking version of this adult faith comedy to match its continued hilarity.
L-R: Matt Damon as Loki and Ben Affleck as Bartleby in DOGMA. Photo courtesy of View Askew Productions.
Despite making the weekly pilgrimage to services each Sunday, Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) doesn’t believe like she used to. This all starts to change when the angel Metatron (Alan Rickman) appears in her bedroom, calling upon her to set forth from her home in Illinois to New Jersey where she must stop two angels, Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, respectively), from entering a newly-christened church archway and reentering Heaven via plenary indulgence. Promised aid in the form of two “prophets,” Bethany makes her way to Illinois with all of creation hanging in the balance.
With the film being 25 years old, there’s a solid chance that the following remaster review will spoil some details about the narrative. So, if you haven’t seen the film yet, be advised of potential spoilers moving forward.
Alan Richman as Metatron in DOGMA. Photo courtesy of View Askew Productions.
For the uninformed, this remaster isn’t just some anniversary cash-grab. The rights to Dogma were owned by Miramax (re: Harvey Weinstein) who would not relinquish them to Smith, and so they’ve sat with audiences possessing no way to access the film in theaters or on home video, save for the out of print DVD/Blu-rays (if you’re lucky enough to have access to one). On April 1st, 2025, amusingly enough, Smith took to his Instagram to announce the acquisition of the rights and the upcoming re-release into theaters and home release. Physical media collectors and Smith fans have been waiting for the news of a new edition of Dogma and a 4K edition enables the film to enter modernity with a bit of style. Though the remaster doesn’t remove the locked-in-time elements of the film — for good or for ill — Yeoman’s work is undeniably impressive, especially for those most familiar with the look of the original release.
L-R: Jason Mewes as Jay and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in DOGMA. Photo courtesy of View Askew Productions.
In my view, a good remaster doesn’t try to detract from the film or remove the director’s vision. There are, of course, exceptions where, perhaps, the film should be left alone (looking at you, Star Wars), but, otherwise, making tweaks to sound and color (versus outright changes) creates an opportunity to improve upon what was to bring it up to what it could be. For Dogma, there’s the obvious enhanced visible detail that comes with the 4K aspect (more pixels therefore more to see) which affords the audience a sharper image resulting in more refined visual experience. For instance, it’s easier to notice the physical separation in Metatron’s top costume, the jacket versus the hoodie, which are already subtly resplendent. This is, perhaps, years of watching the DVD showing, but the in-frame material is absolutely remarkable in terms of detail. Even the sound impresses with the echoing of Bartleby’s voice in the garage as he crashes out, bouncing across speakers, immersing you in his frightening rhetoric. But it’s more than that. This remaster also features color correction that shifts how the film looks via adjustments in the white balance and the greens/blues on display, resulting in a film that is the same but whose color temperature is drastically different. The original release contains a lot of browns; the sky, for instance, shown on the interstate is clear but muddy as Bethany, Jay (Jason Mewes), and Silent Bob (Smith) stand over the recently-cratered Rufus (Chris Rock). With Yeoman’s changes, the sky is a soft blue, increasing the sense of calm and good cheer rather than disquiet at a naked man falling from the sky (and without beautiful, naked, big-tittied women accompanying him — rude). The house that Azrael (Jason Lee) holds up in has a white exterior with blue wallpaper, but the exterior looks a little older, a little less taken care of, compared to the shining white of the remaster. Even the blue on the wallpaper appears more inviting, thereby making the demons within it just a little more disquieting, even if Azrael looks sharp in his white seersucker suit. With the shift in color, the whole of Dogma is more welcoming, denoting the well-intentioned message that serves as the foundation for the fantastical tale and frequently lurid jokes within it.
L-R: Actors Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon on the set of DOGMA. Photo courtesy of View Askew Productions.
In terms of the film itself, even the most devout Smith fans can acknowledge that re-evaluation is not only a natural part of any revisit, but a necessity. One can easily throw out a “like the back of a Volkswagen” and acknowledge that Brandi and Rene (Clarie Forlani and Shannen Doherty) were never in the wrong for expecting more from their suitors in Mallrats. One can easily ask “What’s a Nubian?” and still acknowledge the regressive stance on homosexuality that courses through Chasing Amy. (Side note: if you’re not familiar with the fantastic doc Chasing Chasing Amy that starts as a fan-film for the Smith title and shifts towards a critique of it, I highly recommend checking it out.) Likewise, it’s a little off-putting to hear Salma Hayek’s Serendipity casually use the R-word, despite being hotly aware of how that word, in all its denigrating weight, was used in normal conversation at the time of release. Likewise, the revelation of Jay’s masturbation habits is meant to humiliate the character, especially in its delivery from Rufus, as his hyper-sexualized persona is connected to his love of pussy (a predominately masculine-facing version of gender identity), resulting in a reaction of surprise from Silent Bob. What makes this so strange now is how absolutely open-armed the rest of the film is. It plays with pronouns as they relate to G-d, the only character becoming indignant about it being George Carlin’s Cardinal Glick, whereas Bethany, Serendipity, Metatron, Bartleby, and Loki all roll respectfully whenever someone shifts from a He to a She and back. While presenting both angels and muses as lacking genitals creates the opportunities for various punchlines, an argument could certainly be made that they represent the LGBTQIA+ community in the way that they have existed since the dawn of time and do so within and without gender norms (ex. Serendipity picks the form that best suits them). Dogma also speaks of a general love for humanity as it relates to G-d and faith, that there’s no faith that’s accurate in its depiction of what G-d is and that the fight to be correct has done more damage than acts of empathy and understanding. While religious dogma tells us that some faiths are more right than others and only those who believe are worthy of saving, Dogma inspires us to acknowledge that only by caring for one another, listening and communicating, and providing support (not seeking reward or benefit) is the path to righteousness. In short, karmically speaking, those who wear pledge to any religion are less likely to get into Heaven simply because they uphold the rules of faith without necessarily subscribing to the ideas which founded it.
L-R: Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, Linda Fiorentino as Bethany. Jason Mewes as Jay, Salma Hayek as Serendipity, and Chris Rock as Rufus in DOGMA. Photo courtesy of View Askew Productions.
I was 18 years old, nearing the end of my first semester in undergrad, still heartbroken and a little lost when Dogma released. I saw the film alone and ran to tell the only person that I knew who would appreciate that I’d seen it so that we could dig into it. Raised in a Reform Jewish household, I had questions, luckily that my friend could answer, but the one thing that I took away and have held tightly to since that first watch is Rufus’s statement regarding beliefs vs. ideas. I’d always had an interest in philosophy and, having worked in a bookstore in high school, I could borrow books, making feeding that curiosity easier, but I’d never heard something that made so much sense. I would go on to earn a minor in Philosophy and, I suspect, it’s in no small part to this one small, but narratively significant conversation. Even now, 25+ years later, Dogma remains just as touching, thoughtful, and hilarious as ever and its return to theaters comes when not only do audiences need a reason to laugh, they need something that might just get them to rethink their approach to their fellow humans. Does it matter if one’s inspiration comes from a film featuring a shit demon? Not if they get the right idea.
In select theaters June 5th, 2025.
Head to the official Dogma website for information on the Dogma: The Resurrection Tour.
For ticket information, head to the official Iconic Releasing Dogma webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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