The Covenant - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Covenant



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
2023 is the year that I actually have hope of seeing old school cinema again. I don’t want to go down a rabbit hole talking about how films the last 3-4 years have been a huge disappointment for those of us who longed for “fun” movies. Covid-19 had a large hand in that happening with countless films getting sluffed off to streaming only. Another part due to over saturation of the super hero market that has pretty much reached saturation point. And the last part due largely due to the fact that the writers and producers in Hollywood were heavily pushing agendas that a lot of people weren’t happy about (we can argue woke vs. based writing all day long, but needless to say the end products were suffering greatly), with Disney/Marvel and several of the other studios watching their tentpole projects not even coming close to acceptable profits, despite heavy marketing and push. It seemed to be a dismal and bleak landscape, with fans just wanting to have FUN at the movies again, and seeing very little hope in site that Hollywood would turn a corner and give them what they wanted.

That is, until Top Gun Maverick blew the doors off the theaters, screaming loud from the rooftop that old school “fun” movies were something the public was starving for. And it seems the hints have been heeded, as we’ve been seeing more and more of them pour out over the last 6 months or so. John Wick 4, Avatar 2 (debatable on being that good, but it certainly was a crowd pleaser), Dungeons and Dragons: Honor among Thieves, and several more have invigorated cinemas once more, driving even this old school cynic to actually look forward to going to the movies again.

However, there were two sleeper hits that even I didn’t see coming this year. The first would be a small film with a 6 million Euro budget that would become this year’s Taken in the form of Sisu, and the second would be Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Most people when they think of Guy Ritchie imagine copious amounts of British banter in the dialog, Jason Statham in a gangster role, and of course more witty Dialog and more Jason Statham. Little did I expect that that Guy Ritchie taking on a heroic take on the war on terror would be one of my favorite movies of the year.

In the war on terror we have sort of forgotten the toll that the 20 year conflict had on people outside of the United States. Many of us had family who fought in the war for the better part of 12 plus years, and have watched our loved ones come home with a myriad of scars (some physical, some mental), and watched their grief as we underwent one of the worst military pull outs since Saigon, leaving the soldiers wondering if they made a difference at all. However, there is another victim that isn’t as prevalent on the average person’s mind. That is the fate of the Afghani interpreters who risked their lives and that of their family to aid in our attempts to free them from Taliban rule. Thousands of men and women who have been killed or forced into hiding as their brethren turn on them as soon as the Taliban took control after our exit. Men and women who are now in even worse straights than when we came in.

The story revolves around Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his men hunting down Taliban IED builders. His old interpreter bit the proverbial (and literal) bullet recently, and he’s given a new one in the form of Ahmed Abdullah (Dar Salim). Ahmed is a bit rough around the edges, having been a part of the Taliban before they murdered his child, and doesn’t exactly take orders like Kinley would like. However, after their patrol is ambushed, John finds out the mettle of the man that is voluntarily serving underneath him as Ahmed drags the wounded soldier over 100 clicks through rocky mountain terrain to the safety of the U.S. base.

When John wakes up he’s stateside, having been under medical care for days. The unfortunate fact is that while John is now alive, Ahmed and his family were forced to go on the run as the Taliban wanted to make an example of him. John tries his best to make right on their promise to provide Ahmed with a U.S. Visa for his service, but no the trail of red tape is long, and Ahmed’s time is running out before the Taliban forces find and execute him. Realizing that he has a debt that can only be paid one way, Kinley does the only thing he can do. Arm up, and head in on his own to extract his interpreter the old fashioned way.

I genuinely didn’t expect to like The Covenant as much as I did. I only went into the film with an open mind due to the fact that I like Guy Ritchie, and have been going to see his films since Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. I figured it should at least be fun from the trailers, but I didn’t actually expect it to be as good as it was. The Covenant is not a perfect film, but it is pure adrenaline pumping FUN, something I have been excited to see in movies once more. Ritchie tones down his typical British banter to a minimum (there’s still some witty back and forth between characters) and pumps everything he has into a poignant and exhilarating tale that delivers everything it promises. A tale of men who are men. Who will stop at nothing to fulfill a blood debt, and live or die on the honor of their word.

Gyllenhaal is great in the role of Kinley, as is Dar Salim as Ahmed. Both have a sort of abrasive chemistry that meshes well together. Not to mention I was almost creeped out to see Anthony Starr as a GOOD guy for once (Half the time I subconsciously expected him to go all lunatic Homelander on someone), nor did I expect to see Jonny Lee Miller doing his best American accent as Kinley’s CO. There’s some definite predictable moments throughout the film, which sort of robs some of the tension here and there (the ending was never in doubt, no matter how bleak the situation seemed), but I didn’t even care. I was grinning from ear to ear as we were privy to an old fashioned heroic war movie, where the good guys are good guys, and the bad guys are pieces of garbage that are given justice at the end of a barrel. It’s fun, exhilarating, and the sort of movie that makes you want to sit up and salute by the end. There was no muddying of the waters with moral dilemmas. There was no double crossing and preaching about the evils of war. Instead this the type of Top Gun war time adventure movie that puts butts in cinema seats.




Rating:

Rated R for violence, language throughout and brief drug content




Video:

While I was HUGELY disappointed in the fact that this didn’t get a 4K UHD release, we can at least take comfort in the fact that the Blu-ray from Warner looks as good as the format possibly can. Featuring a razor sharp 1080p transfer that just exudes fine details and warm earth tones, the digital looking production is definitely bleak and muted on the colors. The world of Afghanistan is heavy on earth tones, with sun blasted sand peaks and crumbling desert foliage around us. Not to mention gray and tan camo outfits for the soldiers. Nothing is going to really “pop” color wise, but this is a meticulously done transfer with spot on perfect details and NO signs of artifacting. Even in the middle of the desert sands and in the middle of a humvee we don’t get any banding or black crush. Simply put this is a fantastic, picture perfect video encode that will leave no one disappointed.









Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is every bit the same stunner than the video is. I was absolutely amazed at how the mix strikes a balanced between nuanced and finely detailed, along with brutal bass and in your face action surround usage. The overheads get used quite extensively with helo blades thudding overhead, as well as bullet pinging from every direction (including overhead) along with the string based score. Bass is brutally punishing during the action sequences, slamming the listener back into the chair, but also knowing when to take a back seat during many of the dialog heavy scenes. Surrounds literally are dancing from one end of the room to the other, and vocals are crisp and clean up in the front of the room. I don’t give out perfect audio scores very often, but this certainly deserves it.












Extras:

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Final Score: ​

If you can’t tell by now, I loved The Covenant. Out of sheer enjoyment alone it was one of my favorite movies of 2023 so far (outside of probably Sisu). It has that sort of no holds barred “oo-rah” military bravado similar to films like Top Gun: Maverick or 13 Hours, and I would have given it a full 4.5/5 rating except for some of the predictability near the last act. I’m still hugely disappointed that this didn’t get a 4K UHD release, but the amazing Atmos track and picture perfect 1080p video is enough that to put salve on that wound. Extras are sadly non existent, but despite that one caveat, this gets a solid two thumbs up from myself.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Sean Sagar, Jonny Lee Miller, Emily Beecham, Anthony Starr
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Written by: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, Marn Davies
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), English DVS 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Warner Brothers
Rated: R
Runtime: 123 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: June 20th, 2023

Recommendation: Great Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I have not seen this one so will check it out.

 

[Sonnie]

Looks like a good one... thanks for the review.

So true... just not a lot of good stuff over the last few years.

 

[MusicManLen]

Great review and you are absolutely right about SISU which is intense but will probably be skipped over. It is not for family viewing but you won't sleep through SISU. It should be filed right next to JW 4.

 

[tripplej]

Saw this on amazon prime. Very good film. Feel sorry for all those folks left behind, similar to what happen in the Vietnam war when the last helicoptor left and all those folks, who supported the USA were left behind as well.