The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower is a mixed bag of abridged mythology from King’s book series, fun performances from Elba and McConaughey, and uninspired action.
The Dark Towerintroduces Jake Chambers ( Tom Taylor ) , a troubled 11 - year - old who dream of a villainous Man in Black ( Matthew McConaughey ) , a grand Gunslinger ( Idris Elba ) and a tower that protects his earth from darkness and fervidness . However , in his arouse spirit Jake spends most of his time drawing pictures of what he ’s see in his dreams , gets into trouble at schooltime , and is the main takings about which his female parent Laurie ( Katheryn Winnick ) and stepfather contend . With Laurie worried over Jake , she decides to mail him to a clinic upstate , but everything switch when Jake discovers that what he learn in his dream is real .
Jumping through a portal to Mid - World , Jake finds himself in the centre of the feud between Roland Deschain / the Gunslinger and Walter / the Man in Black , which begin when Walter vote out all the Gunslingers - including Roland ’s father , Steven ( Dennis Haysbert ) . With the Man in Black get closer and confining to unlock a surefire way to ruin the Dark Tower and get in the demons that domicile outside the universe , Roland and Jake must figure out a way to save not just their own worlds , but all the worlds in the universe . However , since Roland is more focused on get revenge on Walter , the project prove even more hard .
Adapted from Stephen King’sThe Dark Towerbook serial , the Sony Pictures film has had a tenacious , somewhat troubled road to the theater . Both J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard were each attached to direct the adjustment at certain dot since the film was put into evolution a decade ago . Then onceThe Dark Towermovie began move forward in 2015 , the moving picture ’s expiration engagement find out a number of changes , shifting fromFebruary of this yr to summertime , before eventuallylanding on its early August opening . Additionally , the first trailer forThe Dark Towerdidn’t get until this outpouring - an strange occurrent in our current age of blockbuster tentpoles - after its own set of delays . All order , the buzz surrounding the moving picture was n’t great , and that was before reports surfaced oftrouble behind the scenery . The Dark Toweris a mixed travelling bag of abridged mythology from King ’s Word of God serial , playfulness performances from Elba and McConaughey , and sterile action .
Director Nikolaj Arcel’sThe Dark Toweris given the unenviable labor of condensing the sprawling mythology found in King ’s account book series of the same name - which includes nine novels published between 1982 and 2012 - down to a two hour movie . Or , in this case , a one hr and 35 arcminute flick . While the unforesightful runtime makes certainThe Dark Towerdoesn’t linger too long on exposition , rather largely reveal bits of selective information through flashback or light expository exchanges , it also prevents the movie from digging deeply into the humanity ’s mythology and the characters ' histories . And with four credited screenwriters - including Akiva Goldsman , Jeff Pinkner , Anders Thomas Jensen , and Arcel - it ’s easy to see how theThe Dark Towerwinds up feel like a compromise in which everyone feel like they ’ve lost .
For fans of King ’s genre - flex literary world , The Dark Towercondenses major world - build scene into one or two prison term explanations , with only brief allusion to the war between the Gunslingers and the Man in Black as well as the history of the Gunslingers and Roland ’s family as a whole . The plastic film ’s own plot of land is plant after the event of the book serial publication exclusively , so it is n’t a nonindulgent version of King ’s piece of work . But since the screenwriters were task with making King ’s complex man accomplishable for perfunctory moviegoers who have n’t scan the novels or are n’t familiar with the tale , TV audience are only contribute the bare minimum of information . While this meansThe Dark Towerdoesn’t overwhelm with its mythology , it also prevents the plastic film from diving into the effusiveness of the man create by King - which was inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’sLord of the Ringsepic .
But then , The Dark Towernot reserve for much depth is the film ’s biggest issue across the board . Although Elba and McConaughey offer entertaining performances , their characters are largely two - dimensional . Elba ’s Roland is the archetypal excruciate Western hero twist with choosing between doing what ’s right and seeking vengeance , while McConaughey ’s Man in Black is an all - herculean evil sorcerer , but one whose evilness margin on humorous and leeringly creepy rather than truly scary . Much of theThe Dark Tower’scharm - and there is charm to be found - lies in Taylor ’s Jake ( and , perhaps surprisingly , in Michael Barbieri ’s supporting twist as Jake ’s admirer Timmy ) , especially in Jake ’s dynamic with Elba ’s Gunslinger . The duet are a conversant mismatched fellow duo , which provides for some of the film ’s best comedic beats , who - however briefly - find real mutual ground in the deaths of their fathers .
As for the film ’s action mechanism , The Dark Towerdoesn’t seem to know how to effectively portray Roland ’s Gunslinger skill in a way that ’s both original and does n’t completely slow down down the pacing of a sequence . While there is one particular representative in which Roland ’s money shooting yield off , the shootout scene are reminiscent of Timur Bekmambetov’sWanted , but with notably less elan . And , at one point , The Dark Towertakes a baffling detour into CGI - heavy action that looks even less stylish and would seem more appropriate in a made - for - TV version of King ’s work . Even still more perplexing , Arcelisable to offer a few dandy visuals inThe Dark Towerthat will stand out to viewers - though , regrettably , not nearly enough .
All in all , The Dark Towerisn’t the movie that buff of King ’s novels have been await decades to see on the boastful screen . With a new story , condense mythology , underdeveloped characters , and a fairly simplistic Hero ’s Journey arc - spare the Tower , save the world -The Dark Towerdoesn’t actively improve upon the source fabric and fans of King ’s universe will likely line up it lack . On its own , The Dark Toweris a comme il faut action - fantasy adventure that make for an enjoyable experience for casual moviegoer . However , the film never quite dwell up to expectations mark by its source material and long growth outgrowth , failing to capture the thaumaturgy of King ’s novel despite the efforts of Arcel and the film ’s screenwriters .
Trailer
The Dark Toweris now playing in U.S. theaters nationwide . It runs 95 minutes and is tell on PG-13 for thematic material admit sequences of gun violence and action .
Idris Elba , Tom Taylor , Claudia Kim , and Matthew McConaughey star in The Dark Tower , a Western Sci - Fi film conduct by Nikolaj Arcel . Released in 2017 , The Dark Tower comply a young boy with visions of an apocalyptic time to come in which a powerful mankind , dubbed The Man in Black , lays waste to the universe of discourse . The picture is based on the Stephen King al-Qur’an series .
Tom Taylor in The Dark Tower
Matthew McConaughey in The Dark Tower
