Covenant

By Will Connor

The Covenant not super duper great, but well worth seeing

The new movie from the "people that brought you Underworld," was not as stupendous as Underworld, but it was certainly an acceptably fun film with lots of good points. One of the things fans of Underworld expected and got for the most was good writing. The script for the flick was well thought out and kept my interest, personally, during the entire film. The direction and especially the cinematography, was up to snuff and even the weaker actors were decent and didn't distract from the story or the enjoyment of the movie. And the money spent! The special effects alone must have broken the bank. Almost everything in the movie looked fantastic.

My complaint about the film stems from editing. The storyline flows fairly well throughout the film, but there is a sense that certain things were cut and others left in with the end result being the choices made for those cuts were not the best ones that could have been made. Some things never get developed, some things simply appear or are never addressed again once they leave, and many things went on a smidgen too long. I hope that there is a director's cut in store for us with the DVD release, as was the case with Underworld, such that we can see what the writers intended. I suspect the film will increase in quality when viewed in full.

A few other problems with the film dealt with believability of the situation. The kids that were supposed to be in a prep high school were way too old, they lived in dorms that were better than any dorm at any ivy league school, and they walked around in them wearing only a towel and didn't see any other students most of the time. I think not. Also the students hanging out in a bar when under the drinking age acting like they were 25, but with colas in their hands instead of beer was weird to me, even as a non-drinker.

The final battle scene was long in the coming, which was fine, but when it arrived, it just wasn't as kick-ass as one might expect. Not because it wasn't spectacular, but because everything before that was equally as spectacular, so it lost a few cool points by then time it rolled around. Also the flying bits were obvious blue-screen wire tricks and not as smooth as they should have been.

This is not to say that I didn't like the special effects or the final battle scene. I did! The eyes turning dark was excellent, the Darklings (that are far too under mentioned in the film) were my favorite, and I liked many of the other small touches, like the Book of the Damned (that also doesn't get enough film time.) The basic premise of their powers being addictive was a nice touch and the use of the spider familiar was good too. Everyone in the film was a little too pretty for me, with all the boys in the film having puffy, pouty lips except Toby Hemingway, who looks just the rest of family - practically lipless, but that prettiness extended to the rest of the film. The buildings were beautiful, the sets were fun, and the money seemed to be well spent, for the most part.

Overall, I would say that this was a fun movie to go see. In my personal rating system, being a poor student, I think of things in terms of ‘how much does a film cost’ and ‘where do I get to watch it?’ Well, this film fell into the "see it on the big screen" category, but it didn't make it to the "you won't fell guilty paying full price for it" subcategory. Make this one a "Matinee" or a "Dollar theatre" viewing, but go see it. Fun stuff!

For more information got to http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475944/ orhttp://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thecovenant/

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