Sadly lack King THE DARK TOWER

Cert Running time

Horror writer Stephen King has had a mixed bag with movie adaptations of his work – for every brilliant Shawshank Redemption there’s a Carrie remake. With an A-list cast, a decent budget of nearly £50million and an epic eightbook series to work from, this is easily one of the worst.

Bland teenager Jake Chambers finds out he has psychic ability and is transported to another dimension.

Poor young actor Tom Taylor is out of his depth. As Jake he’ll attack a high school bully for stealing his artwork, but when faced with a multidimensional magical reality, his indifference is staggering, all “Yeah, like whatevs”.

There he meets Idris Elba’s gunslinger, a ex-defender of the Dark Tower who’s vowed revenge on the magical Man In Black for killing his father. The English star tries hard but his talent has no target and his charisma stays holstered.

It’s the same for his arch enemy Matthew McConaughey, swaggering snake of a sorcerer who lacks venom.

He wants to use Jake’s psychic ability to finish the Dark Tower, which protects the universe from outside attack.

Mashing up fantasy, science fiction, horror and Westerns, there’s loads of good ideas thrown about, such as dimension doorways, an army of human-sized rat-men, and bullets made from the sword of King Arthur.

So it’s scandalous this is so dull and devoid of mystery, thrills or fun. Plus it’s over-stuffed and under-powered, feeling long even with its brief running time.

It stumbles along at a languid pace, lurching from silly to stupid. Fans of the books will be furious and everyone else will be put off reading them. And there’s no power in the universe which could make me darken the tower’s door again.