Modern war movies have always been a hit or miss. You can get some snooze-fests but there is a myriad of riveting ones as well. So, when I went to see The Covenant, I entered the theater with an open mind. This film didn’t seem like it put a whole lot of effort into advertising. I didn’t see any ads on social media, only a trailer that was shown in most PG-13 movies and up over the past few weeks. After watching, I wish they advertised this movie quite a bit more.
The Covenant is a fiction war film about the Global War on Terrorism centered in Afghanistan. A majority of films that focus on modern warfare are based on true stories or at least have some truth in them. However, this film wasn’t based on a true story but it sure did feel like it.
The story follows Master Sergeant John Kinley, played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Ahmed, played by Dar Salim. When Kinley’s squad gets ambushed by the Taliban, he finds himself on the run with Ahmed, trying to evade the enemy and get back to sanctuary. After being critically injured in a skirmish, Ahmed has to bring Kinley back to friendly forces any way possible. After being sent back home, (not a spoiler, it’s literally in the trailer), Kinley decides to go back to Afghanistan and rescue Ahmed from the Taliban.
Unfortunately, this brings up one of the only problems I have with The Covenant. I wish I never watched the trailer. I understand that they wanted to hook the audience but it revealed way too much. It shows all the plot points in the movie in three minutes.
Another minor issue that I had was that this movie was advertised as something a little different than what was shown in theaters. According to the trailer, I was expecting most of the movie to be about Ahmed’s journey carrying Kinley back and Kinley going to save Ahmed but that was only about half the movie. They did a whole lot of setting up in the first half of the film.
Speaking of the set up, that was done beautifully. Introducing us to the main protagonist in addition to the supporting cast, it wasn’t too much but just enough to make us care about these characters. Showing where Ahmed came from and the bond that he and Kinley grew was very emotional. Gyllenhaal’s and Salim’s acting was just on point to add to this chemistry that they had. I think Jake Gyllenhaal is one of the more underrated actors of our time. He portrayed this character perfectly.
Final Thoughts
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant was a great surprise in how well executed it was. This is definitely a movie that I will end up seeing again. I would recommend this movie to anyone who wants to see great acting and an emotional story about bonds and commitments.
