After so many blockbuster flops this year, can Stephen King’s The Dark Tower adaptation succeed where so many have failed?
First off, it should be noted that I have read The Dark Tower series and that has definitely influenced my opinion of the film. If you’re here for the straight forward review then skip this paragraph; even so you may find this interesting. The Dark Tower as a series of books follows the journey of one great man, Roland, on his quest to The Dark Tower. He wants to see it, and he wants to protect it. The film, on the other hand, follows a child, Jake Chambers, who is also in the books, and Roland is shown as his helper and as a petty man lost to revenge. This will upset the fans. Along with this, they may also wonder whether they watched one, seven or none of the books at all. Will there be a sequel? Apparently, there is a prequel TV series planned. Will any book fans want to watch any more of this?
Attempting to create a blockbuster from a drawn out high concept fantasy-western (and breathe) was a big ask. Action sequences are often short and perplexing like when Jake Chambers sees a portal and gets attacked by a house. There is a brief throw away explanation after but it’s obvious they’ve tried to cram in too much. The gunslinger’s pistol skills are also wasted on the director Nikolaj Arcel who fails to capture any impressive feats barring one which is filmed like a budget TV segment. He makes a point of capturing several quick gun reloads but Roland’s supernatural pistol abilities are an incredible lost opportunity.
Idris Elba has proven himself capable of diverse roles in the likes of The Wire, Luther and Thor, but as Roland, he lacks believability. However this could be more down to the screenplay than Elba; he is cast as a revered knight of the realm but the character is written as lost, selfish and unfortunately for an anti-hero, rather boring. Unfortunately, Elba has no one to revile in his wisdom and past like in the books. There is a boy with him who holds the greatest power in the universe (according to the movie) who drives the plot forward with or without Roland. Elba becomes second fiddle in a movie that is supposed to be about his character’s life. The writers must think they’ve done a stand-up job, as in a bizarre turn towards the end, the boy is told in a high-octane moment that Roland doesn’t care for him even though the movie hadn’t established anything contrary to this beforehand.
For a series almost three times as long as the Lord of the Rings books, 1 hour and 35 minutes doesn’t do the source material justice; the film is left with a splattering of badly directed action sequences, confusing plot turns and characters which fail to make any emotional connection to each other. If there is a sequel/prequel you can count me out.
Author: Matt, Cardiff Store
