[yasr_overall_rating]
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.
I’m sure there will be many film reviewers who will make reference to the movie “The Dark Tower” and its adaptation from the Stephen King source material. I have never read the books on which the film is based but even though I haven’t scanned through King’s pages, I do know that the story spans eight novels, more than enough to give Tolkien a run for his money. Watching this very brief movie adaptation, 95 minutes to be exact, one can’t help but wonder what might have transpired if Sony had actually taken a risk and allowed this big screen variation to play out over two or three pictures, à la Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. At least then the proper amount of time could have been given to the various facets of the story, from the Gunslinger and his nemesis, the Man in Black, to the visual effects and some of the secondary characters’ backstories. But it is what it is. This isn’t a critique of what could have been because as I stated earlier, I have not read the books so this review is of the film, plain and simple.
Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) is a young boy who lives in New York City with his mother Laurie (Katheryn Winnick) and step-dad Elmer (Karl Thaning). He has recurring nightmares about a man in black, a dark sorcerer who steals children from their homes and uses their psychic ability to further his own personal agenda, killing them in the process. But there is also the Gunslinger, a tall stranger who carries a gun on his hip and spends his life tracking the Man in Black. He wanders his planet, seeking the Dark Tower, a mythical fortress which is rumored to be the core of all universes and which protects every universe from the forces of darkness and it is this very structure, that the Man in Black continuously tries to demolish so he can rule the universe. As Jake’s nightmares worsen, his parents agree to send him to an asylum upstate for a weekend, so he can receive the medical treatment they feel he needs but he quickly ascertains that the people from the asylum actually work for the Man in Black and he manages to escape. While in hiding, he looks through some of his drawings and comes across one of an old house that he recently dreamed of, in a suburb of New York, and makes his way there. Inside, he accidentally opens a portal which takes him to a parallel universe, a dry, desert planet, which initially appears devoid of life, called Mid-World.
It is here that he actually discovers the Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), and he is exactly as he dreamt him, tall, reticent, and very fast with a gun. When Jake explains where he is from and about the visions he has experienced, Roland agrees to take him under his wing, as he wants to locate the Tower himself so he can take revenge against the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) for killing his family. Along the way, the duo fight deadly creatures, harbingers of evil, before locating a portal which takes them back to New York so they can load up on weapons for their return to Mid-World but with the Man in Black following their every move, they must try and outsmart him before he realizes just how powerful Jake really is, and forces him to use his psychic abilities for evil rather than good.
As I stated earlier, having not read Stephen King’s books, I cannot compare them to this film adaptation but it is very easy to ascertain that if it had received the proper treatment, it could have been an epic story, in every sense of the word. As it stands though, it is enjoyable for what it is. Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba appear to be having fun with their respective roles, McConaughey chewing up every ounce of scenery around him, while Elba pays homage to Clint Eastwood’s “Man with No Name” character, saying very little but allowing his actions to speak louder than those words. The story incorporates many genres including science fiction, horror, and western and infuses them together seamlessly. While the first two acts roll by unobtrusively, it’s in the movie’s final act where everything falls apart. It is rushed along at such high-speed precision that by the time we reach the inevitable, clichéd finale, where everything is wrapped up nice and neatly with a bow on top, we’re left scratching our heads and looking at our watches, wondering if the projectionist somehow misplaced an entire reel that might make its way into the theatrical release come August 4th. In today’s day and age of epic fantasies than can span two or more hours, it’s a wonder that a film based on an eight novel story, would be compressed into just 95 minutes. For those not familiar with King’s books, they might be able to sit back and enjoy themselves but for the diehard King fans, especially those who love this series in book form, you might want to give this one a miss.
In theaters Friday, August 4th
