The Covenant

Guy Ritchie has created some of cinema’s most well-made slices of entertainment over the past 20-plus years, but isn’t the best choice to helm The Covenant.

Not only is the Afghanistan War thriller about U.S. Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal, charmingly gruff) repaying a debt to his unit’s interpreter Ahmed (Game of Thrones’ Dar Salim, comparably compelling in his subtle resolve) outside of the director/co-writer’s cheeky comedic tonal sweet spot, but it rarely encourages his trademark visual flourishes.

While Ritchie was able to overcome such obstacles in the deathly serious Revolver and Wrath of Man, the general lack of stylistic enhancements render The Covenant largely anonymous — though thankfully not to the extent of his career low, Aladdin — and yet there’s a clarity to the cinematography that elevates it above the average war adventure.

The dialed-in approach further allows the chemistry between opposites John and Ahmed to shine, although there’s a distinct feeling that the intensity of their predicament might have been better served by Peter Berg or Paul Greengrass, both of whose frenetic styles more aptly fit the material.

Nevertheless, Ritchie’s use of overhead shots and slow-mo help amplify the already elevated tension, but they also feel like a tease of a (superior) version of The Covenant defined by such embellishments.

Grade: B-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: MGM)