|
|
|
Two fallen angels – Bartleby (Affleck), who is a Grigori, and Loki (Damon), formerly the Angel of Death, were ejected from Heaven by God to spend all of human history on Earth. Loki, who'd just slaughtered the first born in Egypt (The Tenth Plague in Exodus chapter 12 ), had taken Bartleby out to a post-slaughter drink. After getting heavily inebriated, they had a conversation on whether or not murder in the name of God is right, during which Bartleby convinces his friend to resign his position as the Angel of Death. Once they return, Loki (who was drunk) told God that he quit, threw down his flaming sword, and gave it the finger as he left; for this, Bartleby and Loki were banished from Heaven, costing their entitlement to eternal paradise. They were condemned not to go to Hell, but were exiled to Earth (Wisconsin) for the entire span of human history, and once the world ended, they would have to sit outside of Heaven's gates for eternity. In addition, as a result to their drunken actions, God decreed that no angel could consume alcohol. Azrael (Lee), a demon (and fallen muse) with a hidden agenda, secretly sends the duo a newspaper article about a church in New Jersey where a Cardinal (Carlin) has declared a blanket amnesty in the form of a plenary indulgence and initiated a contemporary Catholic image campaign--"Catholicism Wow!" with the 'happier' savior: Buddy Christ! --in celebration of the centennial anniversary of his church. This blanket forgiveness would allow Bartleby and Loki to be removed of all sin and thus allow them re-entry into Heaven, provided that they transubstantiate into human form by pulling off their wings and then die by a way other than suicide. They would re-enter Heaven despite their banishment by God. The Metatron aka the Voice of GodHowever, it wasn't that simple. As explained by the movie, the entirety of existence (Heaven, Hell, the Universe, and everything in them) functions solely on one principle: God (who in the movie is played by Alanis Morissette in a cameo role) is infallible. To prove God wrong would violate the very principle that allows creation to exist in the first place, and reality would collapse on itself; the act would erase the all of existence. That means that since Bartleby and Loki were banished from Heaven for eternity, their return to it would subvert God's word; if they succeeded, the result would be not just the end of the world, but the annihilation of all creation. The angel Metatron (Rickman), the Seraph who acts as the Voice of God, appears to abortion clinic worker Bethany (Fiorentino) and gives her the job of preventing Bartleby and Loki's return. At first she is reluctant, but changes her tune after she is attacked by three teenagers (who were sent to Hell for bashing in a baby's skull to see what it looked like) under the command of Azrael. She is aided by Rufus (Rock), the thirteenth apostle who was left out of the Bible because he was black; Serendipity (Hayek), a writer's-blocked muse turned stripper; and the prophets Jay and Silent Bob (Mewes and Smith). Along the way to New Jersey she finds out that she is the Last Scion, the last living descendant of Mary and Joseph, and thus the last living relative of Jesus Christ. Azreal tracks down the two angels and manipulates them into believing that both Heaven and Hell are trying not to just stop them, but to kill them. He also tells them that the Last Scion has been contacted, and is one of the people sent to execute them. Azrael gives them train tickets and warns them to lay low, and to stop killing people (Loki and Bartleby executed several corporate heads of the Mooby Corporation for the depiction of a golden calf as their mascot). Eventually, the angels run into Bethany and her menagerie on the train; at first, they are unaware as to who each other are, so they have a rather amiable conversation. That is, until Rufus walks in. The angels recognize Rufus immediately and realize who the people are; mistakenly believing that Bethany and her group are sent to kill them, a fight ensues, and the angels are thrown from the train. Bartleby and Loki walk into an abandoned parking garage. Bartleby has snapped; he has realized what would happen if they get into Heaven, and he decides to try to enter Heaven anyway as revenge for their expulsion. Loki goes along with it, albeit unwillingly. His friend has snapped, but Loki is unaware why. Bethany and her group stop in a bar, where Azrael is waiting for them. He kills the bartender, and reveals that he set this entire plan into motion and why. During the war at the beginning of time, renegade angels and the faithful angels battled each other on the ethereal plane, but Azrael and several others refused to fight, waiting to see who would win before they jumped in. Once God cast out the renegade angels into Hell, Azrael and those who wouldn't fight were ejected along with them. Azrael then came across the plenary indulgence and set up a plan to get out of Hell by destroying all of existence, using Bartleby and Loki to do it. Eventually, a fight breaks out in the bar, during which Azrael and the three teenagers are killed. They borrow a car, and Bethany and her menagerie get to the church. Loki is drunk, and there are bodies strewn everywhere; Bartleby had exterminated everyone he could in the crowd outside the church, and Loki, unable to stop him had his wings ripped off thus becoming human. Loki refuses to help Bartleby in his plan, and Bartleby kills him. Bethany then releases God from a comatose body in the nearby hospital (put there by the three teenagers and Azrael to prevent God's intervention), but dies as a result. Bartleby, who lost his wings in the fight, is then killed by God when she and Metatron walk out of the church as he attempts to run in. Bethany is brought back to life by God, and she has a surprise waiting for her; she is no longer the Last Scion, because God has given her pregnancy, and her child is now the Last Scion. She is told to take care of the "package," as "she" has a lot of work ahead of her. The major theme of the film is about modern people regaining their faith in God, and the danger in faith being confused with dogma. The film also is critical of the usage of religion to justify greed, war, racism, and homophobia. It also states that Heaven is for everyone, not just one religion, and that a person's race, religion, sexuality, and upbringing will not condemn him/her to eternal damnation, as long as s/he is a purehearted, good person .[citation needed] The movie can also be seen as a rebuttal to the perceived sexism of Catholicism. The last descendant was a woman, as was her divinely conceived child. The only person on the Mooby board who was innocent and thus spared Loki's carnage was a woman. Above all, God was a woman. Serendipity says the Bible portrays women very poorly throughout. Alanis Morissette plays God in Dogma; she also wrote and recorded the song "Still" for the movie. Gallery
back
|
