The worst thing about Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is its title. Not only does it remind me of Renny Harlin’s witch-boy disaster from 2006, but it also includes a possessive, likely to differentiate it from that 2006 stinker. Possessives in movie titles only ever work for adaptations of a piece by a famous artist (i.e. a novelist like Stephen King), or for singular filmmakers. Do I consider Guy Ritchie a singular filmmaker? Eh, not really. So, yeah, it’s a silly title. That said, if its title is the primary critique of a movie, then it’s probably a good sign. That’s unquestionably the case with The Covenant (I’m calling it that from now on), a riveting action film that Ritchie should be proud to be so acutely associated with.

Instead of sticking to the traditional three-act structure, The Covenant changes tack and goes with two distinct halves. In the first, set in Afghanistan circa 2018, we follow Master Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal), an Army special operations NCO who leads a small, tight-knit EOD unit. Needing a new interpreter, Kinley picks Ahmed (Dar Salim), a skilled but obstinate man who despises the Taliban. Before getting to the gunplay, Ritchie only spends about 30 minutes or so setting up these two main characters and their relationship, but that’s really all the time these two talented performers need. Gyllenhaal is adept at playing the stern operator who values competence and loyalty, while Salim is equally deft at showing the composure and integrity his character requires. Do I wish these guys got to know each other a little better? Sure, but then again, this is only a two-hour movie, and Ritchie needs to get to his beloved action set pieces.

The first set piece is a doozy, as Kinley and his squad are ambushed at a Taliban bomb-making site. Action buffs will surely get a kick out of this sequence, which isn’t particularly bloody, but is really hard-hitting. Bullets thwack into soldiers, both enemy and friendly, knocking them to the ground. Mortar shells rain from above, forcing men to scramble out of cover. It’s pulse-pounding filmmaking, and some of Ritchie’s best. Actually, all of the violence in The Covenant is really well-shot, especially when you consider the film’s fairly limited budget. Again, though, I need to circle back to the acting. Gyllenhaal and Salim’s performances quickly endear you to John and Ahmed, which is crucial to making these action set pieces so successful. The last thing I wanted to see was one of these guys getting hurt, let alone killed, and so, I felt the full stakes the entire time.

Alas, the trailers gave away that Kinley was going to be gravely wounded, forcing Ahmed to drag him across terribly rugged landscapes back to the relative safety of Bagram Airbase. It’s after this that The Covenant transitions into its second act, in which the now recovered Kinley returns to Afghanistan by himself in order to locate Ahmed and his family and get them to safety. If this movie sputters at any point, it’s during a few parts of its second act. It’s not that the latter hour of The Covenant is bad in any way; it just fails to recapture the excitement of what preceded it. If I had to pin it down to any one thing, I’d say this loss of momentum comes down to poor pacing. There’s a lull in the action, and then bam, a sprint to the finish. And like Guy Ritchie’s last movie, Operation Fortune, its ending lacks finesse. As I hinted at before, a bit more time spent with the two main characters together would’ve been nice, and I definitely feel that it would’ve lifted the second act to another level.

All in all, The Covenant is a rousing war thriller that features engrossing action scenes and acting, specifically from its two leads (it’s nice to see Antony Starr and Jonny Lee Miller too). While Gyllenhaal is almost as locked in as he’s ever been, Salim steals the show, kicking off what’s hopefully a long career in Hollywood. The Covenant also ranks right up there with Guy Ritchie’s best (probably in his top three). However, it does lack some of his usual flourishes, so don’t expect any narration or witty banter filled with profanities. The way I see it, though, the absence of these elements demonstrates Ritchie’s growth as a director, and it certainly makes his next film, which is also a war thriller, all the more compelling.

If I had to score it, I’d give Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant an 8/10.