AT a military checkpoint in Afghanistan, an American platoon led by Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) is ambushed by a lone Taliban insurgent, who sets off an improvised explosive device which kills a few of the soldiers, including a translator.
After recruiting another translator, Ahmed (Dar Salim), Kinley’s platoon are ambushed once again, with the latter and Ahmed then fleeing across the Afghan wasteland, away from pursuing insurgents and towards a U.S. Army base.
Director Guy Ritchie then switches the perspective as the film enters this second act.
The duo’s survival then hinges on Ahmed, who has to drag Kinley to safety.
Set during America’s “War on Afghanistan”, The Covenant’s main story begins. Less about the war itself, and more about the camaraderie between soldiers during wartime, The Covenant explores the effects that Ahmed’s actions has on Kinley, especially in the third act which is completely different compared to the first two and final acts.
Kinley, safe in America, attempts to navigate inane immigration and bureaucratic red tape in order to secure visas for Ahmed and his family, who are hiding in Afghanistan from insurgents that are hunting down translators that worked for the American army.
Ritchie tries to say something regarding America’s overall failure in Afghanistan, but misses the forest for the trees, as The Covenant instead settles on a lukewarm narration on the abandoning of Afghan translators that were contracted by the American army.
The film then returns to Afghanistan for the final act, which includes a lot of gunfights, and a huge set-piece involving a Lockheed AC-130 gunship.
Unlike the rest of his films, The Covenant has Ritchie at his most restrained. There are no gangsters. No quick-witted characters. Practically zero humour. The editing is not frantic quick-cuts.
Ritchie departs his usual conventions to deliver a rather grounded film set during yet another pointless (American) war, yet The Covenant – despite great direction and bravura performances by its two leads – does not really deliver anything deeper beyond the film’s rather surface level, blunt message.
The Covenant premieres in cinemas nationwide on April 27.
