The Dark Tower: Movie Review

So you've got Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as the lead characters of a film based on a book by Stephen King, pitted against each other in a classic good vs evil, stopping the end of the world kind of film narrative. Sounds like something that should offer at least 90 minutes of entertainment and brilliant voices if nothing else, right? Well that's what I was expecting from 'The Dark Tower' but Director Nikolaj Arcel has managed to...how shall I put it? Fuck it up. The film is a disappointment, to say the least.

The premise, as already unveiled in the trailer, revolves around something called the 'Dark Tower'. Apparently, it is at the centre of our universe and is responsible for protecting it and its inhabitants from what in essence is a version of hell and means the end of all things and all worlds. The movie's narrative introduces us to it and the antagonist through the visions/dreams of 11-year old Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor). It is through these visions we meet the Man in Black (Matthew) who is trying to bring down the Tower, and subsequently, meet The Gunslinger (Idris). The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, is chasing after the Man in Black (also known as Walter) to avenge the death of his father.

Jake, living in New York, is a troubled kid since the passing of his father in the line of duty as a firefighter. That combined with these troubling and dark visions make for a stressful parenting environment and like all parents, they try to get him "the best help available". In one of the visions, Jake sees a house that seems relatively current and real-worldly and is manages to track down its location in New York itself. The house holds one of the portals to the Mid-World where the events from his visions are taking place and that is how he finally enters the foray.

It's fast-paced, more like rushed, as it gets the characters paths to intertwine and face-off against each other. There's some magic, some sorcery, dark fantasy and a suitable helping of gunslinging action. But there is very little story to follow that develops not even a single character in what seems to be an otherwise intriguing narrative plot. But that's kind of what the problem is with the film. It's a connecting point to what is a 7-part series of books written by Stephen King. So it offers nothing to those who followed the books and had high expectations, and leaves the unintroduced feeling lost and begging for more sights into the plot and the characters.

Getting to the scores, I'd rate this movie 2 out of 8 soda cans and advise you to not pay good money to watch it on the big screen. Watch it later on your laptop or smart TV, or better yet would be to get into the books. 

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