The Covenant

The Covenant, où quand la testostérone et le caractère se rejoignent. Guy Ritchie surclasse Du sang et des larmes, le film d’action pure de Peter Berg, parce que The Covenant n’est pas un simple film d’action pure. Il bénéficie d’une histoire plus forte, ou plutôt, il est capable de tirer de son histoire un spectacle d’une plus grande profondeur dramatique, doublé d’une réflexion. La fusillade ne vient qu’en deuxième position. Le casting est judicieux et Jake Gyllenhaal livre une fois de plus une performance fantastique. Le thème du « buddy movie » avec Dar Salim s’exprime de façon minimaliste dans les gestes, mais il s’affirme d’autant plus puissamment au cœur de l’histoire. Des engagements et des principes inscrits dans un code d’honneur masculin à l’épreuve des balles. (19/05/2023)

Le réalisateur Guy Ritchie est décidément intéressant à suivre ces dernières années. En plus de réaliser des conneries commerciales bien foutues, il tourne çà et là un film « plus petit », de style dur et de bonne facture. Après The Gentlemen et Un homme en colère, voici The Covenant, qui n'est pas nécessairement le meilleur de la trilogie mentionnée, mais qui a encore réussi à transformer une bouffée de créativité en un moment de cinéma à l’avenant. Dans la première moitié, Ritchie raconte un drame de guerre quasi procédural, pour passer ensuite en mode John Woo et son action « bromance » exagérée dans la seconde moitié, laquelle culmine dans un long montage presque fétichiste sur l'énorme effort physique et émotionnel qu’un équipier peut déployer pour sauver son prochain. (28/05/2023)

Guy Ritchie and his war movie The Covenant! Anyone who likes these modern Afghan war dramas will not be disappointed here. It may not surpass it's related brethren in terms of genre, but it maintains a similar high standard of craftsmanship and that's the most important thing. The first half hour is slower, but then it picks up decently with a cool action sequence involving a Taliban ambush, culminating in an uncompromising survival drama with two great actors – Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim (great chemistry, fatality, manly words). It is a very suspenseful sequence with a thumping soundtrack where the viewer is slowly left breathless. The second half is a little different, but definitely not bad. Gyllenhaal shows off his acting skills to the max, and even though the action drops, it's still a very engaging and high quality film that culminates in another action intensive finale on a bridge. There's not much to fault the film, there's simply everything you'd expect from an proper and well made modern actioner. Admittedly I don't quite have the urge to see The Covenant again straight away as I did with 13 Hours of Benghazi or Lone Survivor, for example, which I have a notch above. But this one too is a great flick that shouldn't offend anyone. Ritchie is awesome and an expert on macho movies. Leave the women in the kitchen and The Covenant with a beer won’t disappoint. 8/10. (26/05/2023)

Another classy and focused Ritchie flick. As with Wrath of Man, this is not a lightweight, verbally refined stylistic feature, but direct and vigorous male-driven action with minimal dialogue, this time paying tribute to Afghan interpreters. Although it is not based on a true story, it feels very realistic, with the highlight being the chase with ragheads in the mountains about halfway through. The tension can be cut and the technically perfect Michael Mann-style action is breathtaking. The warfare is bloody, grounded, and even the barracks feel very realistic, more like a non-production area in a factory than a modern control centre. Gyllenhaal is economical and doesn't take credit from Dar Salim, as his unassuming mechanic with a family and a baby on the way is the real main character here. There's nothing much more to the story than what's in the synopsis, but it's really about a man's word and his commitment to help someone who got you out of some shit. (10/05/2023)

A macho story about commitments that are really important in life and should be fulfilled. With a minimum of words, but an ideal amount of gestures and decent music as support. Ritchie's directorial finesse is nowhere near Spielberg's or Scott's, so the gunfights are rather generic, full of annoyingly digital effects (what else could we ask for 55 million dollars?) and certainly not the main draw of the film, but at least he delivers another solid adult film with emotions, suspense and without pathos after post-modern bullshit like King Arthur or Sherlock Holmes. The Covenant will probably get lost among war movies because there’s is too little war and the depiction of Eastern terrorists is not as catchy and dynamic as in, say, The Kingdom, nor as meticulously detailed as in Zero Dark Thirty, but in terms of content, it is is relatively strong, simple and straightforward. (02/06/2023)