So...I can't enjoy this movie. I'd like to. It's a good satire and all that. But it's too Preachy. There's too many scenes of people sitting around rambling the message of... rationality, perhaps, or maybe self-awareness. It's a bit like preaching the Atheist Agenda, but that's definitely not it. It wouldn't be so bad if it was being said without any hint of flare or creativity. You could fine any of the concepts it throws out in any secular or pagan forum, or even an episode of Supernatural.

For instance: There's a scene where a Muse rants about women and their representation in the bible. It's not a hugely long scene, but it drags on for too long. It doesn't need to be that lengthy, could have been a line or two, leaving time for character development. Or perhaps better actors.

That said, there are some good parts. Alan Rickman, Silent Bob, and the "Buddy Christ" concept. When the movie is being cleverly satirical, it works. When it rams its message down the viewer's throats, however, the exposition drags down the enjoyability of what should have been a much better movie. Brevity is the soul of wit, and this movie should have learned that.

Dogma is the only movie in the View Askewniverse I have ever seen, but I've heard it is a somewhat more raunchy sort of universe. Of course, I didn't know this when I saw Dogma, so I was able to view it as a stand-alone movie. I was very pleased with what I saw.

I'm going to admit right off the bat that I'm a Christian, albeit from a low-liturgy denomination, so I watched this movie with a Christian viewpoint. Some of the historical details and Christian views (the dogma, if you will) were almost painful at times. God is not a female (technically not a male either, even though we normally identify Him as male), and Jesus was definitely not black—Jesus was ''Jewish''. I really can't say what Catholics believe, since I'm not one, but there were probably some mistakes there too.

At the same time, Dogma got a lot of things right that many Christians don't. While God isn't female, and Jesus wasn't black, it wouldn't diminish anything scripture says if they were. And while the details may have been wrong at times, the message was dead on. In fact, it sounded a lot like what Christianity is supposed to be. While the movie is often perceived as an attack on Christianity, it has an almost scholarly view on what it was supposed to be attacking.

In conclusion, if you look past all the crude uneducated humor and language, you find the perfect example of a satire: an intelligent movie that does more than just attack it's target. It criticizes it, finds the flaws, rips it apart, yes, but then it builds it back up. It's a criticism, but a constructive criticism that remains in line with Christian theology and philosophy. This is what a satire is supposed to be.

I would highly recommend this movie to all Christians out there (non-Christians as well, but for different reasons). It's a movie with a very wise message. Even if you have a different reaction and don't agree with the movie like I did, it still gives you a lot to think about.