Renny Harlin hasn’t had it easy of late. He provided us with a CGI laden Exorcist sequel, Mindhunters was delayed for about three years as he edited it four times, and then there’s this. The Covenant may be his biggest box-office success in seven years (it even made it to the top spot in the US) but it’s not that great.
The film (which is essentially a male version of The Craft) sees four young boys with magical powers have a whole lot of fun, before the arrival of a new boy at school threatens to ruin everything.
A gorgeous cast and beautiful locations aside, there isn’t really much going on here to keep you interested. It’s basically a series of creepy moments followed by effects-heavy sequences ad nauseum. The ‘story’ doesn’t go anywhere, nor do the characters, especially Jessica Lucas who spends the final half hour lying in a hospital bed (can we say waste of talent?).
OVERALL SUMMARY
People are not that good looking in real life, the moon isn’t that bright and locations aren’t that beautifully creepy, the film certainly has a lot of magic at play, but illusion does not a good story make.
