I just don’t know where to begin…
The Dark Tower is a story about young boy Jake Chambers who
realises he is different from others in his life, whilst battling constantly
being told he’s crazy, whilst trying to battle the mystery of his abilities and
‘shine’. He finally encounters the Gunslinger, and the villain of this series –
Walter. Jake ends up being stuck in the middle of their battle and all are
trying to keep the universe stable by protecting the Dark Tower that stands in
the middle of our universe(s).
This sounds like a simple film with a straight forward story, right? It’s not, and this wasn’t what is portrayed in this film. My main struggle here is to not write a book review, or explain how much I adore the mind of Stephen King, because this should be emphasised as not something that represents King’s body of work, and should be viewed as something independent.
The way the story is presented to us isn’t the only problem this film has. Firstly, the cinematography is consistently poor in this production. I mean, take into consideration the fact that not only are we shown that a lot is happening in a whole different part of the universe, we are also filming in New York. It felt like we were on the same part of planet when flicking between these two worlds, this really took away from the main points in the plot. This could have such a greater impact if even the small things such as the lighting were altered. I understand where the creators were trying to go with this, to emphasise the dark, but come on… no lighting at all? REALLY!? EVEN IN NEW YORK?!
As well as this, the score… it was in no way memorable, this could have helped create an impact by being used as a transition from actions of one character to the next, it’s surprising how noticeable it is that the sound in a film is important when there is almost none.
This film did lack. It wasn’t all bad, it would be unfair to claim that it was terrible, because it wasn’t. The cast was chosen well, they did the job, and Idris Elba was well suited for his role as the Gunslinger, but I don’t know that I can say that is a solid across the entire cast. When we are introduced to the Gunslinger and Jake working together you do understand that there is a connection, but you are left wanting more from them. Matthew McConaughey as Walter… I’m not so sure. As I said, he did the job, of course, and it was fine, but he wasn’t convincing it was an average representation of a character that I remember expecting more from prior to the release of the film.
The only area this film didn’t lack – which I expected, was
some okay action. But again, we just needed more! As it began to get good, and
we began to see something happen the film switched to a new event because it
was just too short for what it tried to do.
Honestly, I just don’t know how I feel about this as a film, let alone something that is part of a serious cult following. Don’t get me wrong, it was entertaining, but there is nothing about it that stands out very well. In comparison to the trailer, I feel disappointed because it set us up for a chunk of Stephen King’s universe. There were some very subtle references to other key parts of his universe in this film, and they just weren’t explained at all. But again, am I making a bigger deal about this because I know about the universe we’re in?
If you are a fan of King’s writing, and are ready to watch this expecting some juicy King greatness, you aren’t going to get it. You will leave wanting more.
I await the next addition to the world of Stephen King, with the upcoming re-release of It, with seriously baited breath. I hope significant attention has been paid to the details in comparison to this production.
It was average, and definitely not for the King super-fan likely to get irritated by missed details.
4.5/10
CINEMATES - S
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