The Covenant -- 2006 -- PG-13

This one had a nice little premise that offered a bit of a different teen horror flick, though it did follow the same basic style of those films.

What we have here is a group of four boys who are the descendants of families with a history of witchcraft. These guys have a special power that enables them to do practically anything. In the opening sequence, we get some impressive uses of this little power before we learn this period is a trial run before they get the full extent of their power. The drawback to this power is that everytime they use it, it sucks out a bit of their lifeforce, so they ar not truly all-powerful.

Add to this the idea that there was a fifth family that was wiped out because they would not keep the sacred covenant of silence required to keep the holders of the power safe from witch trials. Instead, they abused their power, bringing the wrath of the other families down on them.

The film provides a fresh take on a tired idea and it's wild to see some of the times this power is used (though some of the best are in the trailer). Within the plot, we also get a fair amount of tension and scares as the "darkling" threatens both the boys and their girls, who are ignorant of their power. When the darkling reveals himself and his intentions, tings really heat up as our lead is pitted against him in a power vs. power fight that is kinda fun to watch, but makes you wonder about this whole power thing.

The characters are okay here. The main boy and girl aren't too well rounded, but good enough to follow what they're up to. The plot moves almost too quickly to allow any kind of connection time with anyone. The other three boys within the core group are very forgettable. Two of them have some nice traits that help to set them apart, but they are under-characterized beyond this, so even with some traits, they go unnoticed. Our villain is very much the same way. Minimal backstory, minimal development. The plot is king is this story and the characters are primarily there to service it.

The biggest problem I had with this whole concept of the power is that when the plot required, it was strangely limited. In the scene showing off the power, it is revealed as quite impressive, and almost anything is possible. When conflict of any kind occurs, this power that offers near invicibility is suddenly non-existant and our hero ends up as weak as anyone else. He does nothing to defend himself, and seems completely helpless to do anything for his friends. There might be a reason behind this, but no one ever explained it. We know that the power can destroy and fix and all kinds of stuff, but when the girl was in a burning building, our hero did not stop the fire, fix the building, or even zip them out of there. Instead, he fought his way in to rescue her and carry her out. Maybe he was conserving it.

A similar thing happened in the final battle with this power. For a few blows, it was clear two people could use their power at the same time. But as it went on, the battle became a give and take where one person would bash for awhile, and then the tables would turn and the other would have a go for a little bit. It was really strange.

So the film wasn't boring by any means. It kept moving from point to point and explained what was going on fairly well (even though the power was a little fuzzy), so it kept the excitement up. The nit-pickyness just shows that it blew it in some areas that could have been better, but overall, it's not a complete waste of time.