*Directed by Nikolaj Arcel
*Starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Jackie Earle Hayley, Abby Lee, Kathryn Winnick, Claudia Kim, Dennis Haysbert
The Plot: A young boy named Jake keeps having these dreams of a fantasy world where an evil man in black has these children captured in order to destroy a mysterious "dark tower." After telling his family many times about the vivid dreams he's had, they believe he's psychotic and needs therapy. He then finds out the world is real seeing mysterious things in the city and when one thing leads to another he finds himself a portal into another dimension where he's paired with a warrior called Gunslinger who seeks revenge on the mysterious Man in Black, but also to prevent the destruction of this tower because if destroyed it will cause all the evil and darkness on Earth to be unleashed and destroy all that's good.
Come to think of it I've heard about the production of this movie for a while now and I was glad to see both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey be a part of it. I think they're very talented actors and to see them a part of a film that's a Stephen King adaptation is hard not to get excited about. I haven't read many Stephen King books, but I am a fan of some of the films adapted from his works and it was cool to see this time around that this wasn't going to be adapted from source material that's not horror or psychological thriller. This was an adaptation of a fantasy/science fiction series, my favorite genres in all of cinema.
The trailers were intriguing and I was liking what I was seeing in this cool fantasy world. Even though I heard things here and there about the release date being pushed back, or the runtime was an hour and a half, and it was poorly received at test screenings, I was still willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. After all, this film was on my most anticipated of 2017 list, but low on said list because there were films I was a little more excited to see and since it was pushed to another release date I felt I should be a little more reserved with my first viewing.
I will say the fantasy aspect presented in this film didn't disappoint in my eyes and was by far my favorite aspect of this movie. The mythos and lore that this fantasy world entailed I found to be so fascinating and definitely was the part of the movie that left me wanting a little more just to see what else there is to explore in this crazy dimension or maybe if there are other dimensions. Since this is one film adapted from a series of books I'd be more than happy to dive into the books and find out more about this rich lore.
I also really appreciated the films visual look and what they were going for with this type of dark fantasy look and feel. A darker tone was in place and although there were a few moments of humor to be had, there was no messing around in the grand scheme of things. There was definitely a small mixture of that western flavor in the film's aesthetics with how it captures the desert landscape you see in this dimension with the obvious incorporation of the gunslingers. It's just so cool to see a different and unique kind of fantasy world that isn't another Harry Potter or Hunger Games wannabe. I liked that there was effort in its story to give us a fantasy world that was fresh and different.
Another aspect I enjoyed was seeing the bond between Gunslinger and Jake and really felt that relationship held some of the emotion of that film together. The performances by Tom Taylor and Idris Elba were also very good. Matthew McConaughey has great presence on screen playing the role of this villain. The character itself I feel could've been done better and as a matter of fact the characters in this movie were areas I felt were missed opportunity. I think there were good ideas behind them and their motivations were solid, but there just wasn't enough meat, enough personality, for me to really latch on to the emotion of this movie.
Now, I enjoyed watching this movie fine for what it had to offer, but I did want to like it more than I did and the writing for these characters just could've been better than what it was. I just wish I could've had a better connection to these characters and have moments to really latch on to them, which leads into my biggest issue with the movie. The pacing for this movie felt so rushed and I wanted the film to take its time with these characters and to have build up and suspense to these very big events and entertaining action sequences.
Everything was happening so fast and even though I liked what I was seeing I just wanted to slip into that emotion and really get into the story and feel for these characters. Have I mentioned it's adapted from a series of books, 8 books, condensed into one movie? There's just so much that could've been explored in multiple films if this single movie just took its time or maybe make a singular Dark Tower film that's longer with enough to it. That's it! That's all it needed to do!
I mention how McConaughey's character could've been better in terms of the film's screenplay, but I think how he's presented could've been better as well because I feel the film could've made him more villainous and frightening. All I saw was just McConaughey looking very sinister and being all powerful, but this is adapted from a Stephen King book series, a writer who's developed the most chilling and vile characters we've seen depicted on screen over the years. There's no excuse that there could've been something better here. I think he acted out well what he was given, but if I see him in a scene cooking in someone's house wearing an apron I'm not scared by this guy and I want to be.
Overall, I think this is a perfectly okay fantasy movie that I felt had potential because of great fantasy lore and semi interesting protagonists. I definitely had some fun watching it and I do think all the elements to set up this world and tell this story were in place, but how it was told in its rushed pacing and flat characters could've called for a better film.
Nonetheless, it's a visually entertaining film with cool fantasy elements that left me interested for more. Not in the sense that I'll be able to get MORE out of the story in the next film because there will not be another film, but MORE that I felt was missing in this film that I'd rather invest in the source material to have a wholesome experience.
Verdict: C+
Even though my viewing experience was at the very least alright, this movie did at least make me interested enough to learn about this lore and delve into this book series. I just wish the film was a more emotionally liberating experience that took its time with all these events. It felt like a cash grab in the summer, but I won't lie and say I wasn't entertained and felt this movie had good things in it. It just needed to be better executed.
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