The Covenant

This weekend, Guy Ritchie's newest film, The Covenant, was released in theaters. The Covenant follows US Sergeant John Kinley and his interpreter Ahmed as they are stationed in Afghanistan. After a mission goes wrong, the two must rely on each other and soon form a bond that is not easily broken. Guy Ritchie's movies are usually very high-energy and light-hearted so I was really interested to see his take on the war genre.

This was a very exciting and thrilling film. It does a great job of conveying the intensity of the situation and allows the audience to really feel the tension of what is going on. The film really keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. The characters of John and Ahmed are both really well and it is really interesting to see the relationship between them really grow. The movie does a great job of allowing the relationship to shift when one of the two needs to step up and protect the other. The story itself is really quite simple and easy to follow. It has a very clear 5 act structure and does a great job of not diverging from the main plot line. The middle act was particularly exciting as this is the part where Ahmed has to carry the injured John back to the base. I also really liked the relevance of the subject matter of the movie. The concept of the soldiers and their interpreters in Afghanistan was really interesting and the movie great insight into what this was actually like. The movie also does a great job of portraying the dangers these interpreters face by helping the USA. The film is also very effective in showing some of the shortcomings of the US government and how hard it can be sometimes for veterans to get assistance. Overall, this was a very simple and intense film that keeps you interested from beginning to end and ties to relevant events of the last 5 years.

However, some things keep this from being an A-level film. The biggest issue is that the film feels very episodic. It is very clear where each act in the story is and the transitions between each are a bit clunky at times. The movie feels like it would have worked better as a TV mini-series instead of a movie, just in the way it is structured.

In the end, this was a very exciting simple movie. While it feels a bit clunky in a structure that would probably work better as a TV show, it is still a very good movie and probably a top Guy Ritchie film.

Score: 8/10 Grade: B+ Recommendation: Check it out