Should have had Tarantino/Rodriguez direct the action sequences

This movie would have been 200% better if it had the violence/gore to match the religious themes.

The movie was already a religious exploitation flick, it wouldn't have done it any harm to have some action sequences that at least matched the rest of the tone of the film.

I actually liked the way Dogma was filmed; the camera shots, the color tone, and the lighting were all spot on, but man were the action scenes a letdown.

Smith should have had someone(s) like Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez do the action directing for him. It would have improved the movie a thousand fold, and maybe even made it a cult classic you could watch without the nagging realization that the movie is doing more preaching to you than the religion it's supposed to be mocking.

1.) Tarantino should have directed the demon hockey player fisticuffs near the beginning of the film; it should have been a lot longer, more bloody, and ended with a near fatality of sorts. Like the hockey stick cracking one of them over the head and his head gushes blood on the concrete.

2) Rodriguez should have directed the office massacre. It was such a HUGE letdown showing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon with those big Desert Eagles but they never showed them using them. Rodriguez could have squibbed the heck out of that room, did a few slow-mo shots while Ave Marie played in the background and we saw the people getting gunned down, Robocop style, completely over-the-top blood squibs to drive home the absurdity and violence of the scene. It would be both epic and funny at the same time, especially if the blood splatter was super-over-the-top like Django Unchained.

3) I guess the turd monster exploding was fine, and I thought Silent Bob tossing Matt Damon and Ben Affleck off the subway was both underwhelming and funny at the same time, so that could stay, too.

4) I think there was a shootout in a bar? That should have been more epic and violent; have Rodriguez direct that and give it some more pizzazz.

5) The big showdown at the end where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are massacring all those people outside -- that should have been WAY more over the top and visceral. Instead it was kind of like seeing the aftermath and it was shot with a whimper, not a bang. Tarantino and Rodriguez should have worked out that sequence, with maybe Affleck ripping a woman in two with ease, sort of like shredding fabric, and it's just gory and ridiculous and lots of gore falls out, but he does it casually and nonchalantly while conversing with Matt Damon, showcasing both how powerful the angels are and how he just doesn't care.

6) Both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck also should have been flying people up and dropping them to their deaths from high above, with lots of blood splatter -- that should have been how the heroes enter the scene, someone falling to their death and blood splattering on them. It would be both gross and absurd, keeping with the rest of the movies tone.

7) When Affleck kills Damon it should have been more epic and a bit more over the top. Instead of the little gay stabbing, Damon should have tried to punch him, but Affleck catches his hand and breaks his arm, with the bone spurting out, and everyone aghast at what just happened, including Affleck and Damon. That's when Affleck apologizes and then brings out a large sword and impales Damon with in the heart. A nice, epic and equally absurd way to die. His current death was a blink-and-you-missed it moment, the first two or three times I've seen Dogma I actually missed that scene because I always got up to do something and when I returned, Damon was already dead and gone.

8 ) Affleck getting his head and body blown up was a fine way to go, and one of the only appropriately gory/violent moments in the film.

I always thought it was odd that this movie had like a ton of disclaimers pop up whenever it was shown, whether on TV or cable, yet it was so freaking wordy, preachy, and underwhelming in the violence/gore department.

If Kevin Smith was going to offend people tackling this kind of subject matter, he should have gone all out and done it in a way that was at least memorable for those who wanted to be entertained instead of preached to. He had the foul language, and some slight sex appeal/nudity, but then really chickened out the violence, which is really ironic.

Sacrificing a few of those long-winded monologues for beefier/gorier action sequences would have made this an instant classic and I probably would be more inclined to watch it regularly.