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The Covenant By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Take elements of "Harry Potter," add some "Matrix"-style action sequences, a hip, impossibly good-looking teenage cast and lots of rain and you get director Renny Harlin's slick but vacant supernatural thriller "The Covenant" (Screen Gems). Set in a New England boarding prep school, the tale centers on four warlocks -- Caleb (Steven Strait), Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Reid (Toby Hemingway) and Tyler (Chase Crawford) -- all descendants of the infamous Salem witches, whose powers will increase exponentially when they reach magical maturity at age 18, as will the danger of becoming addicted to those powers. As Caleb's birthday approaches, they navigate jealousies within the group while battling a sinister student, Chase (Sebastian Stan), who wants their powers to augment his own. The dank atmospherics can't disguise a run-of-the-mill script which substitutes schlocky sorcery effects for story or any real suspense. There are a couple of mildly spooky sequences -- including one in which Caleb's sleeping girlfriend (Sarah Wenham) wakes to find her dorm room infested with spiders -- but overall there's not much scary in the movie. The film contains some supernatural violence, a few disturbing images, occult elements, rear nudity, sexually suggestive situations and humor, and recurring crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies. END Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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