The Dark Tower Movie Review

The Dark Tower (2017)

Rent The Dark Tower on Amazon Video
Written by: Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner and Anders Thomas Jensen & Nikolaj Arcel (screenplay by), Stephen King    (based on "Dark Tower" novels by)
Directed by: Nikolaj Arcel
Starring: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert, Jackie Earle Haley, Katheryn Winnick
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer


Plot
Based on the best-selling book series by Stephen King, the last Gunslinger, Roland (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey). Determined to prevent the Man in Black from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together, only Roland can defeat the Man in Black and defend the tower.

Verdict
Reviews declared this movie trash. I kept waiting for it to get bad, but it didn't. I know nothing about the books, but despite that it's clear this did deviate. I don't imagine the books focused on the kid. It's a fairly standard kid that doesn't fit in has great power story, but the fantasy aspect makes this intriguing and McConaughey plays a well-written if somewhat flat villain. Elba has some flashes of cool as the reluctant hero.
Watch it.

Review
This is a fun fantasy action movie. It's not a nuanced character study, but it never intended to be. Jake is a kid with strange dreams that we already know are true. He has visions of the evil man in black and a gunslinger. It turns out Jake has the shine, he's a psychic.
This is the typical kid hero story. The man in black wants to use Jake as a weapon while the gunslinger can fulfill his vow of vengeance with Jake's abilities.

The man in black wants to destroy the universe. We don't know why, other than he just likes chaos. If he can destroy a tower the world will be consumed by monsters. Somehow this tower holds together our world and alternate worlds.
McConaughey does a great job as the bad guy, but it's also because he's written as pure evil. He's almost kind of fun where he cares about nothing, and isn't theatrical like some bad guys who would share their entire plan with the good guy. He wants to bring chaos to the universe whether it's making a daughter argue with her mother or making the world end. That's a good enough motivation for me.

This has more than a few fun moments and the gun theatrics with the Roland reloading his revolver in methods that defy physics are impressive. It's a synchronized action set piece all on its own. The gun slinger is a John Wayne type hero, a cowboy who doesn't say much. While he gets flak for being out for vengeance rather than wanting to save the world, the end result is the same either way. I don't know why it matters. Success means stopping the man in black.

I kept waiting for this to get bad. While the ending felt a bit lackluster, it wasn't bad. I did wonder how an eight book series could be cut into a ninety minute movie. I have to imagine this is very different from the source, but it did a good job of not making me feel like a large chunk of story had been cut out. I assume the books focused on the battle between good and evil. This shifts the focus to a kid learning his powers.

I have read that the producers of the movie have a television series of The Dark Tower in development using this as a jumping point. I just don't know how that would work.