I liked this a whole lot more on this rewatch than I did my first viewing. When I first watched it, I didn't see it as the entirely entertaining, often pretty hilarious and relatively clever comedy from Kevin Smith that I do now. I didn't care much about religion in general - not that I really do nowadays, either - but I understood much more of it now then I did back in the day. Dogma has a great cast going for it, as well as a very interesting (and, of course, controversial) subject matter that is made worthwhile in checking out due to Smith's signature silliness running amuck throughout it's story.

Fun fact: my aunt Marie Elena is included…

When it comes to films that convey the sometimes ridiculous rhetoric of religion, Kevin Smith's Dogma takes great strides to rip Catholicism a new arsehole. Despite the little warning at the start where he states that he isn't trying to offend anyone, this is a proper swipe at organised religion that's about as absurd and as funny as could be. Starring all those usual View Askewniverse regulars, as well as the likes of Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, and Linda Fiorentino, this is sharply written satire that swings for the fences from the opening minutes. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's fallen angels with a hankering to return to heaven through a loophole in Catholic dogma are the main antagonists in Smith's…

One of the things that most people seem to overlook when discussing Kevin Smith is how brilliant a writer he is. He courts a fair amount of controversy with the profanity in his films, but it's usually just how a lot of his protagonists really talk, so that social realism (especially in the likes of Clerks) seems to speak to his generation of film-goer. His View-Askewniverse sets him out as an independent director who rarely conforms to suit others, and that's the reason why I like his stuff so much.
Dogma is the shit. A film so cleverly constructed and so funny that I can't imagine how anyone took it seriously. Yep, I'm talking about you, The Catholic Church, a…

While Mallrats holds a special place in my heart, I will openly admit that Dogma is Kevin Smith's best film.

It's really the last of his films that retain the same low-budget, cobbled together, strangely scripted, heartfelt, 90s independent film feel that Smith delivered with Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. Once the 2000s hit, however, Kevin Smith started relying on too much of the fart humor and on Jay and Silent Bob, his break-out characters. Jay and Silent Bob are great in small doses, but by no means should they have gotten their own film. Eventually, Kevin Smith became a fat stoner (well, he was always overweight, but the daily wake 'n' bakes aren't helping his image) and now routinely…

Still my favourite Kevin Smith film, this was him trying something different - but unlike Jersey Girl, this actually works!

Dogma is an intelligent, witty and hilarious film with a great cast. I just love Alan Rickman's Metatron, who gets some of the very best lines on offer during an increasingly comedically competitive ragtag assembled quest to prevent two fallen angels from re-entering heaven.

Along with Life of Brian, this is probably my joint second favourite irreverent yet utterly well intentioned religious movie, right after Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Bedazzled at the number one spot (which incidentally, this film seems to pay homage to; when the Metatron decides to prove to Bethany that he is an angel, 'herald of…