The least Guy Ritchie film Guy Ritchie has ever directed and I mean that in the nicest way possible, The Covenant (or officially Guy Ritchie's The Covenant for those that may not have known otherwise) is the British director's second box office bomb of 2023 but unlike Operation Fortune this Afghanistan set war thriller is Ritchie on top form, delivering a thrill a minute Hollywoodized romp that is one of the most well-rounded of the directors recent works.
A far cry from the likes of Snatch or The Gentleman, The Covenant is Ritchie dialling many of his trademarks way back while still managing to embed his Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle with the same type of energy, editing wizardry and character quirks that made him one of the most well-liked directors in the industry.
A completely fabricated tale inspired by work of local Afghani interpreters during the allied occupation of the country that lasted 20 years from the early 2000's until recent times, The Covenant is a white knuckle experience that follows Gyllenhaal's committed and no fuss Sergeant John Kinley and Dar Salim's (in a real breakout role for the performer) local interpreter Ahmed on a treacherous journey behind enemy lines when a seemingly routine operation their squad heads out on turns into a deadly battle to survive.
Delivered by the drone discovering Ritchie, backed by a rollicking score from composer Christopher Benstead and founded around the charismatic and committed turns from its two leads, The Covenant is far from a typical American war movie that is far more concerned with its characters than endless firefights and preaching and while those moments come and are undeniably well-staged by Ritchie and his team, its the small moments that make The Covenant more than just another big-budgeted Hollywood thriller.
Another addition to his wildly unpredictable and enjoyable new career phase that has moved on from quiet Oscar contenders and the odd bigger project to fully fledged Michael Bay/Road House remake era, Gyllenhaal brings his A-game here as Kinley and whether its shouting at an unfortunate phone operator or quietly pondering recent traumatic events in the wilds, Gyllenhaal is typically solid here and Salim matches him with the quiet but feisty Ahmed, both actors creating a likeable double bill of players that are hard not to be captured by.
A perfect Ritchie film for long time fans or those that may have never previously enjoyed his unique stylings or creativity, The Covenant may be easy to dismiss on face value but it's top notch Hollywood film-making in many ways and deserving of a much bigger audience than it was afforded in its cinematic run.
Final Say -
A rip-roaring war thriller with great lead turns that rarely lets up across a two hour runtime, The Covenant is in many ways a new type of film for Guy Ritchie that marks a new potentially exciting career move for the director to prove he's more than what many have pigeonholed him to be.
4 on hold phone calls out of 5.
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
