THE COVENANT

Director: Renny Harlin

Stars: Steven Strait, Laura Ramsey, Sebastian Stan, Taylor Kitsch, Chace Crawford, Toby Hemingway, Jessica Lucas

Year: 2006

Rating: PG-13

Having seen The Covenant in bits and pieces on cable, I finally sat down to watch the entire film from beginning to end - as I'm trying to catch up on my film-watching, anyway - and while the film is fun to watch and pretty to look at, overall it remains a fairly standard teenage witch tale ... only this time, the witches are guys.

The Sons of Ipswich (Massachusetts), in fact - a group of four overly-handsome (aren't they always?) teenaged young men (Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Chace Crawford and Toby Hemingway) who go to the same exclusive prep school and are all direct descendants of the original Sons of Ipswich during the days of the Salem witch trials. Each is the eldest son of his generation, and as such at the age of thirteen began to develop supernatural powers that only continued to grow throughout his teenage years ... culminating in said young man's eighteenth birthday, when he will Ascend and his full powers will at last be granted and recognized.

The leader of this Lost Boys-like (except they're good guys, overall) pack is Caleb (Strait), whose more or less the leader because he will be the first to turn eighteen; the first to Ascend. But as Caleb gets closer to his big day, things start to get strange - a young fellow student is killed, and his ghost-like image projected onto a horrifying "darkling" that's sent to each of the four Sons to warn them of something; Caleb's new girlfriend, Sarah (Laura Ramsey), is stalked and terrified by someone (or something); and Sarah's roommate Kate (Jessica Lucas) is cursed with an ancient and deadly spell that has her hovering close to death.

Caleb, trying to put things together, has figured that perhaps there is a fifth Son of Ipswich, after all. There were five families, total, back in 1692, and it was said that the fifth family had died out during the trials. But a trip to the school records office with Pogue (Kitsch) convinces Caleb that the fifth son has arrived - and seeking either revenge, or to gain the power of the other Sons (a power that already is know to deteriorate the body and mind, if overused) as his own, making him the most powerful of all.

Cool premise - so-so execution. The cast is young, fresh, talented, and the men especially make for great eye candy. The sets, production values, and special effects are not big budget, but make for nice atmosphere and set the proper mood.

No, it's simply the execution of the story that fails a bit here. Not enough is explained or gone into about the history of the Sons of Ipswich, or indeed any of the characters. The plot, likewise, is under-developed. And the ending "battle" (such as it is), after a whole lot of build up to it, ends up being little more than a display of powers that showcases little more than the good guy and bad guy throwing each other through walls or windows, or telekinetically throwing a bunch of stuff at each other. It's a real disappointment, because by the time it happens you're SO ready for a knock-down, drag-out, all-hell-breaking-loose fight instead ...

And sadly, this weak finale is exactly what ends the film on a mediocre note, when one feels it could perhaps have been so much more. Not a bad film - but not a great film by any means. Maybe a nice distraction for a rainy day, or when nothing else on Neftlix looks good. **1/2 - Reel Mediocre-Reel Cool