Review of The Dark Tower (2017) by Dann M — 03 Apr 2018

The tower is dark and full of terrors.

THE DARK TOWER.

Flops happen all the time, that's granted. But can you help yourself from being satisfied when a bad movie under-performs? I know that the movie business is based on taking risks on ideas and on people who say they will turn them into reality. However, one can't seem to wonder how, during the whole pre-production and principal photography, no one had noticed the making of a lackluster movie, ending it in its tracks. In fact, there were many people who did but just ignored it because they would made a lot of money anyways. In the movie industry, a 180º turn is both hard to perform and expensive as the rights to this adaptation. These are filmmakers and producers that won't compromise in favor of a greater film and won't sacrifice their earnings in a genuine way. And while the backstage may be very interesting, what matters is what the audience will see. And what the audience will see is a 95min tedious piece of film that is as arid as the wasteland it's set in. While the cinematography will make you wonder if the color correction was made in iMovie, the editing will relentlessly push you over and under scenes and unexplained concepts that you won't care about. The film is rushed to its core, every element on screen and off is weightless and, therefore, I end up falling asleep for 10min. I have seen this movie too many times to care this time arround, it's baroque in its execution and until Hollywood filmmakers don't realize audiences have grown to push away this method of presenting a film that has long passed its prime, we will continue to have movies that are as interesting as watching a fly freeze do death. To add to an uncompelling main actor and character, the theme and plot don't seem that interesting to begin with. Stephen King is a master and therefore his bibliography is filled with untapped content that is worth exploring. But do we really needed to translate this to film? Obviously, it isn't worth it. McConaughey and Elba pull their weight and their characters have the potential to entertain but when you trap two actors in a sour mix of a dull script and absent directorial voice, what's the point of interest to the viewer? From Shawshank Redemption to The Shining, there are a lot of Stephen King movies that push the boundaries of narrative film. However, this falls alongside content like Dreamcatchers and Under the Dome who make the point to lack the two main things which provides such a thrill while reading King: terror and edge!