"The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black."
SHORT VERSION:
A fantasy action film that seems ashamed of being fantastic, The
Dark Tower becomes a muddled story, unsure of where it wants to
go or what it wants to be. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are the
bright spots in the film, but not enough to keep the energy alive.
LONG VERSION:
So up front, I am a big fan of both Stephen King and his magnum opus, “The Dark Tower”. It is by far one of my favorite books series. One of the neatest elements that King introduced, in the last page of the story, was a way to adapt the story without having to use everything in the series. It basically lets anyone adapting it off the hook for doing a direct translation. (I’m being vague for those who are still reading; for those that missed it, look carefully at what Roland is carrying in the movie.)
So with that out of the way, I’m not expecting an exact adaptation. I know how hard it is adapting something from one media to another; I’ve done it myself! So more likely, they’ll use the parts that work from the books, adding & subtracting when necessary, and telling a story that’s right for the medium of film.
That did not occur in The Dark Tower.
The movie is muddled in how to unfold such an epic, unsure of what kind of movie it’s supposed to be. Fantasy? Science Fiction? Action? Rather than be a mix of all these things, the film seems to stumble about, especially in the Fantasy aspects the most. This fault lies somewhere between director Nikolaj Arcel and screenwriters Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner , Anders Thomas Jensen & Arcel. There’s little cohesion to the world that they are trying to build. The powers of the villainous Walter are ill-defined, as well as the skills that allow Roland to evade Walters magic. This muddiness translates into much of the dialogue as well.
Idris Elba , Matthew McConaughey , and Tom Taylor try their best, but much of their dialogue, especially their exposition, comes off as stilted. Rather than feeling natural to the characters, it comes across as simply the means to get them to the next sequence. I see it also making Jake and Roland’s relationship much more confusing, especially without knowledge of the books.
The parts in Mid-Word have some beautiful moments, highlighting the familiar and alien nature of where. They are beautiful moments. Elba’s Roland comes across well as the weary knight, searching for the faith he lost. McConaughey has fun as Walter, but seems restrained in a role that he should be bigger and bolder compared to the hero. The connections to other Kind works are fun to spot, though the best for book fans, might be a late in the movie scene involving Roland and a tv commercial. But these moments are few and far between.
It’s not a bad movie, just a weak movie. The foundation was weak in trying to hold up its own story, let alone the greater one to come. It simply didn’t know the path that it wanted to take, right from the start. This influence every decision from there on out.
Whether the story continues in another film or tv series, only if Ka wills it…
NOTE: There are no post-credit scenes.
