When I first came into The Covenant I wasn’t expecting much. Guy Ritchie’s action movies had never really gripped me and combined with the very “Murica!” premise of a US soldier fighting the Taliban, I settled down for a silly but decent popcorn movie that could at least deliver some decent action.

While it’s not some subversive art piece, I did find that The Covenant was a bit more than I initially thought. It does a good job of showing the hardships of the military, the importance of diplomacy with different groups of people, and solid acting from the main two leads.

A Dangerous Rescue

The movie takes place during The Afghanistan War and follows Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), and Ahmed (Dar Salim), an Afghan interpreter who he recruits to speak to the local people. While the two start with a rocky partnership, after a failed attempt to infiltrate a Taliban factory, they’re the only members of the crew still alive. John is badly wounded by a gunshot and Ahmed has to drag him single-handedly across the dry desert landscape back to their base.

After they rescue John Kinley, however, the higher-ups screw up Ahmed’s Visa, and now he has to hide with his wife and infant. When John wakes up back in the US and when finds out what happened to Ahmed, he goes in a rage and heads back to Afghanistan to rescue the man who saved his life.  

War has changed 

The plot of The Covenant is solid, going at a steady pace from scene to scene. One thing that’s nice about it is that unlike many of these kinds of movies, it doesn’t completely glorify the US military. John’s guys are good but they were still outflanked by the Taliban and the American authorities are shown as truly in the wrong for refusing the rescue Ahmed dispute all the help he gave them. 

It also does a good job of showing the danger of the Afghanistan War, not only for the soldiers but for Ahmed. By siding with the Americans, he’s an enemy of the Taliban. The film highlights the challenges of being an interpreter, he has the make the Americans, who many see as invaders or outsiders look good to the locals and who never know which ones might be Taliban spies. The end of the film actually displays a text describing how 300 interpreters were murdered following the US pulling out of Afghanistan, which really speaks to the message the film wants to convey to the character. 

It’s a much more grounded look at war where the characters can’t go busting in with guns blazing and it does a good job of setting that tone even if it does feel a little generic at times. The film includes the usual shootouts and military jargon you’d expect which isn’t bad but I’ve just felt like I’ve seen it so many times and the film doesn’t do quite enough to stand out.

Brothers in Arms

The only real characters of note in the movie are the two leads John Kinley and Ahmed. Of the two Dar Salim really shines as the interpreter Ahmed. His character is complicated. He’s smart, and he constantly outwits the Taliban, and in general, is quite a badass however you do see a sweeter side when he’s with his family. As mentioned above, the film puts a heavy focus on how dangerous his profession is and how he is able to rise above the challenges. In many ways, it’s more his film than Jake Gyllenhaal’s and that’s not a bad thing. 

Speaking of Jake Gyllenhaal, his performance as John Kinley is good but nothing special. He acts well enough but the characters don’t really extend much beyond your usual GI Joe type solider dude. He is brave, he’s kind, and he gets mad when people stop him from doing his job. You’ve seen this guy before.

The one thing I really like about him is that when he does get angry at his superiors he truly feels unhinged and considering how good Mr. Gyllenhaal is at playing charming psychopaths (Mysterio in Spider-Man, Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler) these were pretty entertaining even if it didn’t amount to much in the end.

The Covenant

The Covenant was a good time look, giving audiences a more grounded look at the Afghanistan War while still including all the action and effects people want out of a big-budget blockbuster. While it still falls into some of the trappings of war films, it refreshingly ignores making the American military seem too much like superheroes.  

It does a good job of showing just how cruel and unfair the military system can be and the struggles of those living in Afghanistan during the war and working with America you see no reason to help them despite all their sacrifice. Dar Salim is brilliant at portraying the different aspects of this struggle and it’d be cool to see him in more big Hollywood roles in the future. Overall, The Covenant manages the bring about some of the best parts of war action movies while also avoiding some of their worst aspects.

The Covenant is now screening in cinemas across Malaysia.