25 Years Later: How Does ‘Dogma’ Hold Up Now That It’s in 4K?

It’s been twenty-five years since Kevin Smith’s unintentional-Wizard-of-Oz-y take-down of modern Catholic dogma first graced silver screens. After being tied up in rights drama and begging for an updated release, Dogma has been resurrected by Triple Media Film with cinematographer Robert Yeoman (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as a 4K theater experience (with perhaps a physical release on its own heels). Fans of the flick will remember the distinctly Kevin Smith-y movie about challenging tightly held religious beliefs in a modern world, but with a re-release and the world as it is, we have to wonder, how does it play now?

Incredibly well.

Dogma writer and director, Kevin Smith, has had an illustrious if wild career that formally began with his scrappy convenience store comedy, Clerks. Since, he’s written, directed, and acted in a gaggle of cult films, and written beyond the medium for comics and television. And while Clerks and its related sequels and spin-offs will always rally a fanbase, there is and always has been Dogma.

Dogma, for the uninitiated, is a tale of questioning religious teaching adopted by humans wrapped around a story of two fallen angels trying to find their way back into heaven. Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in perhaps their most iconic turns outside of Good Will Hunting and yes, I am aware that one was Jason Bourne and another was Batman) were exiled to Wisconsin after Loki was encouraged by Bartleby to challenge G-d’s will. Loki, the Angel of Death, was convinced by his friend that his work was not the way, and by challenging the almighty, they found themselves living a boring and draining eternity in America. But a serendipitous newspaper article provides them a way home. *Extreme Nathan Fielder voice* The plan? Head to New Jersey during the “Buddy Christ” ceremony to receive a “plenary indulgence,” and be absolved of all sins, become human, die, and head off to heaven above. Unfortunately, their success would mean a sort of paradox in G-d’s will, which would cause the end of all existence, which forces the voice of G-d, (Alan Rickman as the disenfranchised and exhausted Metatron) to assemble a motley crew of the last scion, a couple of whacky prophets, and the thirteenth apostle, to try and stop the angels from succeeding. Sure, it’s a complex ensemble story about stopping some messy modern angels from ending the world, but it’s all a front for long conversations asking us to consider whether humanity got this whole religious thing wrong.

Dogma, or the characters within it, often purport to speak for G-d and Jesus to explain away the worst of the Christian religion in practice. Despite boasting a massively irreverent tone, the film oddly acts with reverence towards Christianity in a way that tries to rebrand the whole experience (wrapping it around a bit about an entirely other hokey rebrand that involves George Carlin as a cardinal unveiling a smiling-thumbs-up Christ). Where it succeeds the most and remains relevant is in the lamentations of Jesus and G-d’s agents about things like the wars fought in their names, the racism and sexism applied by the men who held the pencils that wrote down history and the Bible, and the mistaken reads about exclusionary practices buried within humanity’s approach.

In arguably the best scene, Bartleby and Loki visit a corporate head office to go on one last murdering spree before trying to re-enter heaven. By Loki’s estimation, this act of mass death — him being the defunct Angel of Death and all — will please G-d getting them better back in his bosom, but if not, they’re going to pass through the absolution arch anyway so they’ve nothing to worry about. The two make a short detour on their pilgrimage to the “Mooby” (named for a golden cow mascot, of course) offices to have some words with the executives sitting around a boardroom table. Bartleby, The Watcher, rattles off their horrid sins from sexual impropriety, to opportunistic capitalism, to writing off their gay children, before leaving Loki to let loose on them with a gun. This isn’t an endorsement of say, taking down insurance executives or anything of that nature, but one could see how a story about angels viewing capitalists as sinners plays well in 2025, especially one also sprinkled with notes of the incorrect things happening in the name of G-d. Far right politicians and the worst of hoarders of wealth often defer to their Christianity or religious dogma to justify their predatory capitalism or policies limiting human rights for marginalized people. By challenging how texts were written as against the assumed will of a merciful and plucky creator whose disciples would see those who use his (or her) name to justify their heinous acts, Dogma is not only trying to see the best in religion but is tapping into an ever relevant takedown of religion being used as a weapon by the worst of us.

With hindsight, it makes total sense that Kevin Smith would tell this story, or perhaps it is truly the proto-Smith feature. By the 1999 release, he already had Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy behind him, but Dogma feels like the culmination of his cinematic sensibilities tied to his comic book reverence. Placing religious figures — especially ones that glow, grow horns, and have hidden wings — in modern-day to challenge their reality feels right out of the pages of “Constantine,” “Lucifer,” or “Hellboy” (even shown on a demon’s tee in the movie). One could fathom it inspiring the tone of projects like or Dead Like Me. All of this to suggest that Dogma might be Kevin at his Smith-iest and be a marker of his ultimate legacy.

So how does it look in 4K? I can barely imagine Damon and Affleck more gorgeous in their chest plates with wings drawn before, but now I’ve seen it. If you line up for restorations or just love visiting old friends on large screens, then you’d be wise to check this one out in theaters. Then you can hopefully grab it on physical and then wait for the sequel that’ll maybe tell us where Bartleby and Loki ended up (and if Azrael is still the best monologuing villain of all time). Why wouldn’t you want to hit up the air-conditioned theater this June to take in a two-plus-hour attempt at answering the question “can G-d make a boulder that is so heavy, even he cannot lift it?”?

Dogma will be released theatrically in the US and Canada in 4K starting June 5, 2025