It's only 97 minutes, but The Covenant feels longer.
While the writer and director are getting sidetracked with slasher-film tropes, what could have been a promising plot seems to spin its wheels. I mean, I was ready for the director's take on descendents of Salem witch-style power, to see what ramifications it would hold for those with power and those who were powerless. It even started out well enough. We're introduced to four "Sons of Ipswich" who have a "secret." They are the descendents of four of the five families who founded the Ipswich colony, and they possess powers that were inherited from generation to generation. It all has something to do with the witch trials and such, but the film doesn't really explain these details well enough, which is why the sons come across like costume-less Power Rangers. But one day, when a boy dies at an underage drinking party, things change. The four start to see "a darkling" in various permutations, and they at first suspect each other is using their powers for purposes other than pranks.
That's unlikely, though, since these powers come with a built-in "don't use" clause. The more they're used, the more the user ages prematurely. They get these powers on their 13th birthday (when they're TEENS, the film's main audience) and they "ascend" to greater powers when they turn 18 (legal drinking age in many states). So Caleb (Steven Strait), Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Tyler (Chace Crawford), and Reid (Toby Hemingway) try to find out who's using powers that seem at least as great as theirs. Suspect number one (and there are no other suspects) is a new kid, Chase (Sebastian Stan). It sounds better than it plays out, which is to say that teen-soap performances, bad dialogue, and a lackluster plot don't add up to much of a scary movie.
Video:
The 1080p picture looks decent, though as with most films of this sort everything has a dingy, blue-black cast to it, and there's so much darkness you think you're at the North Pole. Given these limitations, there's a good amount of detail and only the slightest grain in some scenes. "The Covenant" is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen.
Audio:
The featured audio option is an English PCM 5.1 uncompressed, with subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai, and additional audio options in English and French Dolby Digital 5.1. As you might expect for a film of this sort, there's plenty of rear-speaker action, and the sound of footsteps in a long, isolated hallway really echo.
Extras:
There are two extras: a pretty standard audio commentary in which the director tells how he did what and why, and "Breaking the Silence," a 20-minute featurette that includes interviews with most of the main cast and many of the filmmakers. I found the short feature more enjoyable, perhaps because it was a little painful watching this film a second time around just to hear Harlin's commentary.
Bottom Line:
After a promising start, this film someone managed to become dull. It lacked the suspense of the best films in this genre, didn't cover any new ground, and featured a script with dialogue that's just a notch or two above "YeaAHHHH, baby!" With all that stellar dialogue and good-looking people posturing, it has a real retro feel: like, "Beverly Hills, 90210." It's only 97 minutes, but "The Covenant" feels longer.
That's unlikely, though, since these powers come with a built-in "don't use" clause. The more they're used, the more the user ages prematurely. They get these powers on their 13th birthday (when they're TEENS, the film's main audience) and they "ascend" to greater powers when they turn 18 (legal drinking age in many states). So Caleb (Steven Strait), Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Tyler (Chace Crawford), and Reid (Toby Hemingway) try to find out who's using powers that seem at least as great as theirs. Suspect number one (and there are no other suspects) is a new kid, Chase (Sebastian Stan). It sounds better than it plays out, which is to say that teen-soap performances, bad dialogue, and a lackluster plot don't add up to much of a scary movie.
Video:
The 1080p picture looks decent, though as with most films of this sort everything has a dingy, blue-black cast to it, and there's so much darkness you think you're at the North Pole. Given these limitations, there's a good amount of detail and only the slightest grain in some scenes. "The Covenant" is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen.
Audio:
The featured audio option is an English PCM 5.1 uncompressed, with subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai, and additional audio options in English and French Dolby Digital 5.1. As you might expect for a film of this sort, there's plenty of rear-speaker action, and the sound of footsteps in a long, isolated hallway really echo.
Extras:
There are two extras: a pretty standard audio commentary in which the director tells how he did what and why, and "Breaking the Silence," a 20-minute featurette that includes interviews with most of the main cast and many of the filmmakers. I found the short feature more enjoyable, perhaps because it was a little painful watching this film a second time around just to hear Harlin's commentary.
Bottom Line:
After a promising start, this film someone managed to become dull. It lacked the suspense of the best films in this genre, didn't cover any new ground, and featured a script with dialogue that's just a notch or two above "YeaAHHHH, baby!" With all that stellar dialogue and good-looking people posturing, it has a real retro feel: like, "Beverly Hills, 90210." It's only 97 minutes, but "The Covenant" feels longer.
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[release]20422[/release]