‘Dark Tower’ leaves moviegoers wanting more
Not having read any of the eight books in Stephen King's The Dark Tower series, I know little about its mythology.
Having seen the long-in-development film adaptation, I still don't know much about it.
Yes, the trailers and commercials for the film promise exciting clashes between the mysterious Gunslinger (Idris Elba) and the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), a powerful sorcerer who dresses like Johnny Cash, acts like the Devil, and talks like a Texan, but the history behind their conflict and what it truly means, other than the Apocalypse for Earth and the rest of the universe, is rather vague.
With a run time of 90 minutes, “The Dark Tower” doesn't devote the necessary time for meaningful exploration of anything special or odd about Mr. King's universe such as magic, psychic abilities, demons and creatures that wear fake skin as masks. These elements, if not integral to the story, are certainly necessary as part of its fantastical bent, but are made pointless if not silly without context.
It's not often that a summer film is hampered by running short on time, but “The Dark Tower” rushes through like it's the last two hours on a Friday before a weeklong vacation and there's still packing to be done.
It does open promisingly with the story of a boy named Jake Chambers (a steady performance by Tom Taylor) who is haunted by visions in his dreams of the Man in Black, the Dark Tower, and most recently the Gunslinger. Jake draws these images in pencil, and then posts them on his wall. His mom thinks he needs help. Jake's therapist tells him these visions of darkness and fire are reactions to the death of his firefighter father, who died in a fiery blaze.
Jake maintains to everyone that they're real.
What Jake doesn't know is that he has a rare and powerful psychic ability. It's this gift that the Man in Black needs to destroy the Dark Tower, a massive, single structure located in the center of the universe that emits a protective shield powerful enough to keep demons and other monsters from entering.
The Man in Black has been trying to break the tower using the mind power of other children, but to no success, and so he comes after Jake.
After eluding the Man in Black's sinister agents in New York, Jake escapes to another world through a portal.
It's on this rocky planet that initially looks like Mars and later Utah that he meets the Gunslinger, the last of a deadly group of Wild West knights charged with protecting the Dark Tower. But the Gunslinger has an old score to settle with the Man in Black first.
“The Dark Tower's” action is rudimentary, its effects average, and its skeletonized story simplistic and dull.
There's little inspiring about “The Dark Tower,” save for Mr. Elba's performance as the reluctant and weary hero who has lost everything but his need for revenge. Mr. McConaughey does the slick part of his villain well. The Man in Black is smartly dressed and has that confident air about him, like the handsome guy at a party who knows all eyes are on him the moment he steps into the room. But there's no real menace to him. Even when he magically kills someone by commanding them to stop breathing, you expect him to turn to the audience and explain the joys of driving a Lincoln.
For his “Dark Tower” books, Mr. King drew inspiration from myriad genres and sources. The work of “Dark Tower” director Nikolaj Arcell is so generic, though, that it stands on its own, with no clear inspiration other than pleasing the studio by bringing the film in on time and under budget.
Hours after watching “The Dark Tower,” the only thing memorable about the film is how remarkably unmemorable it is.