Warning, spoilers ahead…
There is a prevailing thought in the film industry when a film is not widely screened for critics prior to its release, it may not be very good. The Dark Tower unfortunately suffers at times from such a thought.
Based on the popular graphic novel series by Stephen King, The Dark Tower tells the story of the last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) and his eternal battle against the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) who wants to destroy the Tower that binds the universe together. Think of the Tower as the hub of a wheel that keeps the spokes in place. If the hub breaks, so will the wheel. Caught in the middle of this universal battle of good versus evil is a boy named Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) who has a special gift that allows him to visualize another dimension called Mid-World. As he follows the clues, it leads him to Mid-World and Roland. Roland must now protect Jake against the Man in Black for he is the key to destroying the Tower once and for all.
Conceptually, the idea is very cool and a slight departure from a typical King story. The premise serves the graphic novel well but reducing eight volumes of the series into a 95 minute film is a disservice. The story feels rushed with no sense of what motives these men. There are hints of a bigger back story but we never fully get there and that’s a shame. Elba as always is a standout and McConaughey is McConaughey. All that was missing was him getting into a fancy car like those commercials he appears in.
Directed by Nikolaj Arcel
Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor and Katheryn Winnick
PG-13 95 mins
THE DARK TOWER – **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
May the Dork be with you,
James
The Dork Knight
