Guy Ritchie's The Covenant review

GUY RITCHIE’S THE COVENANT: 

TENSE WAR THRILLER DESERVES TO HAVE THE DIRECTOR’S NAME BEFORE THE TITLE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

MGM AND STX FILMS

Jake Gyllenhaal in Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

 

            Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Sherlock Holmes 1 and 2, The Gentlemen) takes his signature directing style to Afghanistan in the new war thriller, The Covenant or more accurately, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. I’ve enjoyed a large chunk of Ritchie’s work with Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the first Sherlock Holmes, and most recently The Gentlemen being among some of my favorites though he’s had his share of misfires in the past like King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and I’m still not a huge fan of his Aladdin remake. 

            While Operation Fortune, released earlier this year was often overlooked by most people (Including me), I made sure to get a Covenant viewing in after already taking care of other new releases, Evil Dead Rise and Beau is Afraid. The film definitely got my attention since it looked absolutely nothing like Guy Ritchie’s other movies by the trailers and advertisements for it. 

            Whenever I think of Guy Ritchie, his crime movies or spy/mystery films with a lot of witty dialogue and/or dark humor usually come to mind. So, it was interesting to see a director like that branch out and do a war movie instead, if Quentin Tarantino could do one successfully, why not Ritchie also? 

            And look at that, Guy Ritchie managed to bring a consistently tense and exhilarating war thriller to the screen. I don’t think it’s one of his absolute best films, but I was invested and on the edge of my seat all the way through. 

            The film is set during the War in Afghanistan and follows U.S. Army sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal-Prisoners, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Ambulance) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim-Go With Peace, Jamil, Exodus: Gods and Kings, Curveball). After an ambush by the Taliban results in a seriously wounded Kinley, Ahmed goes to Godlike lengths in order to save his life. 

            But when Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family weren’t given safe passage to America as promised, he takes matters into his own hands and returns to Afghanistan to repay his debt before the Taliban kills them first. 

            The film also stars Alexander Ludwig (Race to Witch Mountain, The Hunger Games, Bad Boys For Life) as Sgt. Declan O’Brady, Antony Starr (Outrageous Fortune, After the Waterfall, The Boys) as Eddie Parker, Emily Beecham (Hail, Caesar!, Daphne, Cruella) as Caroline Kinley, Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting 1 and 2, Melinda and Melinda, Dark Shadows) as Col. Vokes, and Jason Wong (Jarhead 2: Field of Fire, Chimerica, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) as Joshua Jung. 

            Overall, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is a riveting experience with gripping action, stellar character-based drama, and excellent performances by its leads. Like Aladdin and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, this is probably one of the least Guy Ritchie-esque movies ever made since it’s an intense war film rather than a crime movie, but unlike those two it’s smartly-executed and a lot more entertaining to boot. 

            Though, I called it a war movie, it really isn’t about the war that much and is more of a film about soldiers who happen to be fighting in the war and the lengths they’re willing to go for survival and to protect the other. I feel that’s a much more powerful and enlightening narrative than just two countries clashing against each other in a war. 

            The film also does an excellent job at humanizing those who could easily be seen as just the enemy as is the case with Dar Salim’s Ahmed and his family. In the beginning Jake Gyllenhaal’s Kinley is not keen on having Ahmed as the interpreter, but after he rescues him from near-death, the two of them do form a unique bond and both make their best efforts to help the other out with Kinley just wanting to get home while Ahmed wants to leave for America with his family in search of a better life. 

            It helps that the performances especially from Gyllenhaal and Salim are excellent and keep you invested all throughout the film. Gyllenhaal as this deadpan serious military sergeant with aspects of a sarcastic sense of humor while also depicting him as a loving family man is quite compelling and Salim as the interpreter trying to flee Afghanistan with his wife and kid adds this emotional core to the story and makes you want to see these two polar opposites work together and succeed in their mission. 

            The action and suspense scenes are very exhilarating and quite intense, though nothing super-gory. It’s mostly just the way these scenes are shot and edited make them feel very real and gritty. 

            The narrative, however, could have been paced a little better because while the first half revolving in Afghanistan is extremely tense and emotionally investing, the latter half where Gyllenhaal is trying to find Salim’s character to give him, and his wife visas does lose some of the momentum from earlier and plays more like a second episode of a TV series rather than a full movie. With that said, it does regain its energy from earlier in an exciting and gritty final act. 

            Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant isn’t one of the all-time best war films or even Guy Ritchie films, but if you’re a fan of the director and curious to see him tackle the war movie genre or just looking for a well-crafted action thriller, this is one worth checking out. Seriously, Ritchie, make for of this and less King Arthur and Aladdin…please.