Review of The Dark Tower (2017) by Dconroy — 06 Aug 2017

God awful. I went in, a fan of the books, with the lowest expectations, knowing what would be on screen would be different, so I'm not nitpicking about small nuance changes, but rather, immense changes that fundamentally change the story, and certainly not for the better.

A major shift in character is Roland. Forget about casting Elba(who did fine,as expected), be more concerned with the night and day difference in the character. In the books, a recurring theme is that Roland is constantly faced with incredibly difficult, life and death choices to make. Roland is who he is because of years of his obsession with the tower costing those around him dearly. In this film, Roland is barely even concerned about the tower at all. Not only does not have to make tough choices, he doesn't make any at all. His character guided through the film on a rail. Jake makes the discoveries, Jake makes the strategy choices. Its Jake that leads Roland.

Speaking of Jake, well, readers will know that Jake pays the ultimate price, not once but twice in the first book alone. The second time, a result of another one of Roland's tough choices. The line, "there are other worlds than these" is used in promotion of the film, but not used anywhere in the film, and certainly not where it comes from in the book, where it is so pivotal, and causes major change in Roland's character. All missing.

Another key missing element, is the journey! Every step of the way in the books is an ordeal unto itself. Here they literally jump from place to place, not really having to earn any of it the way they are forced to in the books.

It was nice to see little touches, like the rose graffiti on the wall at the end of the movie, or that Walter's base(?!) is at 19-19. That they say "thankee sai" in the village. But all is overshadowed by other major elements reduced to line or two, such as the whole concept of "the world has moved on" reduced to Roland not knowing what a theme park is. All of Ka, reduced to Walter's one line "once more around the wheel my friend.".

Its not just that its different. Its that it rips the soul from the story and the characters. It does not resemble the story at all. If you loved the books, you'll likely be disappointed or upset. If you never read the books, you'll likely leave wondering what any of that was about, since they do very little explaining for the uninitiated.