Posted by Sagan at ptohideb.uspto.gov on November 16, 1999 at 17:21:14:
In Reply to: My thoughts on Dogma- for what they are worth... posted by Redial on November 16, 1999 at 16:20:56:
To be honest, I thought Dogma lacked character development too, the first time I saw it. You compare it to Chasing Amy, and I guess I made the same comparison. It didn't take me long to realize that it's silly to make such a comparison - other than the sharp dialogue, the films are completely different. Going into it, though, I guess I kind of expected the kind of character development that CA had, so I left a little disappointed.
The second time I saw it, though, I went in with an entirely different attitude. I knew from experience that the story was very busy, with many characters being juggled around. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get inside of any one characters head, so I tried to take the movie in as a whole instead of latching on to one specific character. Do you know what I found? The character development is a bit more subtle, but is still pretty astounding. Bartleby and Loki go through some major changes, as does Bethany. Metatron softens as the story progresses, and becomes more real to us. Even Jay has a brief moment of departure from his typical character.
This might not seem like much, but for an action-oriented, plot-driven movie, that's a heck of a lot of development. If you dislike all movies that sacrifices character for story, then it makes sense to not like Dogma. However, if you like ANY ensemble cast movie - from The Wizard of Oz to Star Wars, then it may be worth it to give Dogma a second chance.
Then again, maybe I'm just talking out of my ass. I tend to do that when someone has a differing opinion!