Review of The Dark Tower (2017) by Rick B — 02 Dec 2017

There have been some great adaptations of Stephen King stories: The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, Misery and the Shining. Unfortunately, this movie is not one of them. Instead, it could be the worst adaptation of what many regard as King's masterpiece.

The film had a lot going for it: two incredibly talented actors, great source material and a big budget. The word squandered comes to mind. At one point watching the film, I realized the Dark Tower reminded me of the 1987 famous Hollywood flop "Ishtar" but with gunplay.

Like the Dark Tower, it also starred two great actors and had them slogging their way through a hot mess of a plot. The story line is simply a dumbed down random string of crudely adapted scenes lifted from various Dark Tower books and thrown together with gunfire and explosions mixed in.

The characters have been so overly simplified that they are cartoonish at best. The thing that most irritated me about this motion picture was that both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey could have been working on other worthwhile projects rather than this debacle.

If you enjoyed this movie...you really must treat yourself and read the books. The first book, "The Gunslinger" is a very short book and is a super fast read. If you've already read the books.

..don't waste your time with the movie..you will simply be left with a sense of frustration. The November 2017 release of The Dark Tower was appropriate...this film is a turkey and was about as pleasant to experience as drinking a full Thanksgiving dinner made into a smoothie.