The Covenant

THE COVENANT

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: nudity, sorcery, thematic elements

Rated:

When the popularity of the vampire flick Underworld became widely recognized, its producers discovered that there is a huge market for modern fantasy-based stories about extraordinary individuals. The Covenant is the second venture to capitalize on the genre, and does a surprisingly decent job of it, despite its sometimes glaring faults.

The remote town of Ipswich has been known for its supernatural legacy ever since its founding in the early sixteen hundreds. The five families who stuck down roots were rumored to have been "gifted" with magical powers. With one family slaughtered in the witch hunts, only the descendents of four remain. Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) is the unspoken leader of the pack, just able to hold back the temperamental, trouble-seeking Tyler (Chace Crawford). Accompanied by Caleb's best friend Pogue (Taylor Kitsch) and Reid (Toby Hemingway), they attempt to conceal their supernatural gifts from the local student body while biding time until Caleb's ascension, when he will receive the full use of his powers. This transformation has his mother worried, for the more magic is used, the more it is craved by the sorcerer, until it drains the last of his life from his body.

Wandering into the midst of their circle of secrecy is the wholly innocent Sarah (Laura Ramsey), who has transferred in from out of state and immediately sets her eyes on Caleb. But as they pursue a flirtatious romance, it becomes clear that one among them is using dark powers, with the intention of destroying them all. Then too, is the request of the headmaster for Caleb to take the newest male student (Sebastian Stan) under his wing. The Covenant was slammed by most secular critics for being too unoriginal. In some ways, they do have a point, particularly toward the end, when what could have been a truly fantastic battle between sorcerers transformed into an over-long sequence of them knocking one another about without much imagination or inspiration.

I will say something for the film -- it has so much atmosphere it practically seeps off the screen. I have rarely witnessed such gorgeous, gloomy exterior shots of the woods, broken-down houses, and sinister corridors. It's part drama, part magic, and part horror, as several images manage to drive home without pulling any punches. I am fairly discerning when it comes to films and their depiction of witchcraft. This one is careful never to label it as such (though they do read from "The Book of the Damned," which, despite the title, is nothing more than a history of the region and the witch hunts) and there are no occult ceremonies or the casting of spells. The most the boys do are drive off cliffs in an automobile, much to the chagrin of local law enforcement, piece back together a car after being slammed by a semi, and toss power balls at one another.

The boys are all quite likable despite their occasionally nasty little habits, and the fact is that it was quite an enjoyable popcorn flick. But there is some content that might concern cautious viewers. There is quite a bit of language, but none of it harshly abuses deity. Girls are seen multiple times in their dorm rooms often wearing skimpy nightgowns or only a short t-shirt and their underwear. From a distance, we see a nude female figure through a glazed shower door. The boys make a bet on what kind of underwear a girl at the bar has on, and one of them causes her skirt to blow up, revealing that she isn't wearing any; more backside nudity is shown as the camera pans through the boy's locker rooms after swim practice. I might add that at the poolside, the boys are wearing low-cut trunks.

Violence is made up of motorcycle and car accidents, as well as fistfights and magical battles in which characters are thrown through windows and walls, slammed against the grown, and struck by lightening. Caleb has light pierce him during the ascension, causing him great pain. "Darklings," or disembodied, tormented spirits, appear to two different characters, with frightening results. Sarah has a nightmare in which she awakens to find her room crawling with spiders; a sorcerer causes a spider to attack someone. One characters sacrifices his life to save another. It's not the best of the genre by any means, but had quite a few memorable moments.