‘Dogma’ Was Just One of Many Angel-Themed Millennial Movies

Kevin Smith recently spoke about wanting to make Dogma 2—and it does feel like the perfect cultural moment. Not only is the original film enjoying new recognition after 26 years, the mood in the world is once again hovering around “another day, another apocalypse.” It’s not quite the same as turn-of-the-millennium jitters, but there sure is a lot of unease in the atmosphere.

That’s the mood a lot of films in the late 1990s and early 2000s seized upon. Doomsday-sploitation cropped up in Stigmata, The Ninth Gate, End of Days, and others. Fallen angels and devils were also part of this: not just Dogma, but serial-killer tale Fallen, cosmic battle epic The Prophecy and its sequels, Adam Sandler’s Little Nicky, and even eventual cult hit Constantine (speaking of overlooked movies that deserve sequels).

But good-guy angels were also a huge commodity as Y2K approached. You can imagine moviegoers, even folks who were not particularly religious and never would’ve tuned into Touched by an Angel (which dispensed faith and wisdom on CBS from 1994-2003) or Christian scare movies (the first Left Behind debuted in 2000), might be grasping for hope wherever they could find it. 

That included the big screen, where multiple movies leaned into earnest, if not always wholesome and benevolent, depictions of celestial beings who spend time on Earth. A few of them also dig into the afterlife, bringing small shades of comfort to the ultimate uncertainty. Here are seven of the most memorable from that era.

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Granted, 1994 is early to be leaning into millennial fears, but this sports comedy was so popular Disney made sequels in 1997 and 2000. This first entry, a remake of a 1951 film, imagines actual angels (led by Christopher Lloyd) step up to help the Angels baseball team after a little boy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) makes a heartfelt prayer on their behalf. 

The cast is equal parts famous faces and soon-to-be famous faces (Ben Johnson, Tony Danza, Matthew McConaughey, Dermot Mulroney, Adrien Brody, and more), and in the end the team wins (without supernatural interference) and the kid gets adopted by the manager (Danny Glover). The ultimate home run, in other words.

Michael (1996)

Nora Ephron directs John Travolta as the Archangel Michael, who attracts the attention of tabloid journalists played by Andie MacDowell, William Hurt, and Bob Hoskins. They smell a big story; they also smell cookies, because Michael smells like cookies despite looking like he should reek of nicotine. 

Michael has maudlin tendencies but it’s all in service of a love story—plus he resurrects an adorable dog. Don’t judge a book by its cover, Michael pleads: that gross dude with wings just might be your salvation.

Unlikely Angel (1996)

Yes, it’s a made-for-TV movie—made by CBS for Christmas viewing—but it also stars Dolly Parton as Ruby Diamond, a sweet but salty singer (duh) who dies in a car wreck and learns she can only get into heaven if she completes a seemingly impossible task by December 24: smoothing over the troubles of a grieving family enduring a holiday season from hell. 

Roddy McDowell plays cosmic enforcer Saint Peter; Allison Mack, who’d become infamous many years later for her affiliation with the NXIVM cult, plays the angsty teen daughter. But this is the Dolly show—file it next to Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk for whenever you need a little sassy inspiration, angelic or otherwise.

The Preacher’s Wife (1996)

Another remake! This time it’s Penny Marshall directing Denzel Washington as the smooth angel once played by Cary Grant, which feels like predestined casting. 

As Christmas approaches, Washington’s angel swoops into New York City to help a preacher (Courtney B. Vance) whose church is being threatened by that most devilish of movie villains—a greedy land developer, played here by Gregory Hines—and whose marriage to the distractingly lovely Whitney Houston has been stretched thin. Will the angel have a hard time separating his work from his feelings? Obviously! But also, everything works out in time for a happy ending on Christmas Eve.

A Life Less Ordinary (1997) 

Speaking of directors who are making long-awaited follow-ups to earlier films, 28 Years Later helmer Danny Boyle made this tale right after Trainspotting. A Life Less Ordinary stars Trainspotting breakout Ewan McGregor and ascendant A-lister Cameron Diaz as an odd couple pushed together by a kidnap caper gone wrong—and the help of angels (Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo) who must engineer a love match or they’ll get kicked out of heaven themselves. 

Love is definitely a theme across all of these movies, as is the idea that even angels sometimes have a hard time getting it right.

What Dreams May Come (1998)

Loosely inspired by the 1978 Richard Matheson book, and boasting visual effects so vivid they took home an Oscar, What Dreams May Come stars Robin Williams—the year after his own Oscar-winning turn in Good Will Hunting—as a man who dies, lingers awkwardly on Earth, then goes to heaven, then travels to hell to rescue his wife after her own death.

What Dreams May Come was a notorious box-office bomb, but the journey its main character endures—ghost to angel to hell-infiltrator, back to heaven, and then eventually being reincarnated on Earth—offers meaty food for thought even in an admittedly oft-sappy context.

City of Angels (1998)

Wim Wenders’ 1987 Wings of Desire gets a doe-eyed makeover as Nicolas Cage’s soulful angel falls for Meg Ryan’s initially oblivious doctor. Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz bring some dramatic heft as characters at different points along the angel-mortal continuum, but the moral of the story is “Don’t give up being an angel for love, unless your beloved understands the basic rules of bicycle safety.”

And… the Goo Goo Dolls are stuck in your head now, aren’t they?

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.