Guy Ritchie has famously carved out a brand name for himself through his quick-cut, action-packed, stylistically flamboyant, visually popping action work, from “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” through “Snatch” and the “Sherlock Holmes” movies and “The Gentlemen.” Even if you didn’t see Ritchie’s name in the typically attention-getting opening credits, there’s a solid chance you’d know you were seeing a Guy Ritchie film.
Only now, though, has Ritchie literally put his name in the title of a movie—and one can’t help but wonder if he did so because “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” is such a departure from the norm, with the director leaving many of the tools in his trick bag untouched in favor of a relatively traditional and admirably staged war film that features some of the most impressively staged extended battle sequences in recent memory, with moments so intense you’ll have to remember to breathe.
