The Dark Tower

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Idris Elba, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert, Jackie Earle Haley, Abbey Lee
Directed by: Nikolaj Arcel
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A boy (Tom Taylor) travels to another world, where he meets a gunslinger (Idris Elba) chasing a man in black (Matthew McConaughey).

Review:

Tim: I'm a huge fan of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, but the books always felt unflimable. It was a dream to have The Dark Tower exist. They actually were making a movie based on this insane, epic story! Part of what makes this story so remarkable is that combines elements of a Western, science fiction, horror, fantasy, romance, action/adventure, and more. It really is unique in how it melds so much together into one epic story. So, to get a movie to start Roland's journey was more than I ever expected. And then Nikolaj Arcel proved that he didn't have the faintest idea of what made King's work special. Instead of giving us a film that was unlike anything else, he gave us a watered down, neutered film that barely resembles the book upon which it was based. If you didn't know anything about King's seven books, you might think this was a decent film, albeit a generic one. I'll give you that. This isn't a badly made movie, but it squanders 98% of the potential of the books. This might be a decent but forgettable movie, but it could have been one of the best of all time. That is unforgivable.

The story is just a weak combination of various plot elements from the books. They were put together by someone with no concept of what made Roland's journey so remarkable. Way too many elements were crammed into this film. In the books, the first one is really about the gunslinger chasing the Man in Black. Jake comes in from another world, but the story itself in contained. It's a good entry into Mid-World and is fairly accessible. Many of the crazier elements don't come until subsequent books. This film throws that all aside, giving us way too much. To someone who hasn't read the books, it's probably a bit of a jumbled mess. Even for me, it was a lot to take in, trying as I was to look at the film with new eyes. It's a terrible shame how much of the film is spent on the Man in Black and his weird cronies. The story should have focused significantly more on Roland and Jake. Roland feels like the one we get the least amount of time with, when he's the most fascinating character. I will admit the time focused on Jake was good- he's our conduit into this world so we need to understand him as a character. Still, more time was needed with Roland. The other issue is that the movie is too short at 1 hour, 35 minutes. If you were really trying to set up King's expansive world here, even minute mattered. This film should have been about two hours long (if they were trying to do it right).

Now, I did love Idris Elba as Roland Deschain. I know some readers were very upset because Roland is white in the books. This didn't bother me at all. Elba is a terrific actor and he made an incredible Roland. I'm just so sad that he didn't get more screen time. We didn't get to know Roland like we should have. He should have been the main character of this film, when he often feels like the third most important one. Still, his performance is spot on. Matthew McConaughey was okay as Walter/the Man in Black. His performance was a bit over-the-top. The biggest issue is that his role was expanded (probably because McConaughey is such a big star). This was a major mistake in the context of the movie. I'd rather have had a less strong actor in this role, if he'd be given less screen time. I actually really enjoyed Tom Taylor as Jake. He's a bit older than in the books, but it was a needed change. Taylor's acting occasionally slips into looking forced, but for the most part, he delivers a strong performance. The supporting cast is okay, but no one really makes much of an impact outside of the big three.

I do have another complaint, and this is getting into a bit "the book is better" territory, which I actively try to avoid. In "The Gunslinger", one of the most important parts is Jake's line, "Go then. There are other worlds than these." That line is incredible and that moment has so much meaning in the larger context of the series. To skip out on that was a major mistake. It treats this movie as a one-off, instead of the beginning of the larger journey. When the first book ends, you want to immediately read the second. When this movie ends, there's not much of a desire to see what happens next. By playing it safe and giving us a "happy" ending, the film shot itself in the foot and further aligned itself with every other movie like this out there. It was seriously like Arcel set out to create a generic movie that was indistinguishable from countless others. I'll always despise him a little for that. On the plus side, the few legitimate action sequences we get are actually pretty good. I loved the scenes that show Roland being the gunslinger- making impossible shots, reloading his gun with lightning-fast accuracy, etc. Those scenes were so cool. They're just too few.

I could go on, but why bother. I do want to be clear- looking at The Dark Tower separate from the source material, it's not a disaster. It's a perfectly okay movie that's too forgettable, a little confusing, but ultimately harmless. I didn't hate the movie at all. I hated the squandered potential for what this film and the entire franchise could have been. This might be a decent movie, but that isn't even close to being good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Read the books, man