Review of The Dark Tower (2017) by Alan W — 29 Aug 2017

Being a Stephen King fan who has read most of his work, The Dark Tower series is the exception that has eluded me and after seeing the film, I don't think I have missed anything much. The series of novels have been described as epic and unfilmable but it is hard to see why looking at this 95 mins film.

The story of a boy who shines with special telepathic powers, being the key to the protection or destruction of the aforementioned tower that stands in the way of evil invading the many layers of worlds seems pretty straightforward to me.

While Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughy are both decent actors, here, they seem too reined and po-faced, lacking in panache and charisma. There are moments of levity and humour but those scenes are sadly few and far between.

As for Tom Taylor who plays the gifted boy in question, while by no means awful, he doesn't really 'shine' and connects until the final moments of the film in what should have been an amazing and emotionally heightened action finale that ends up feeling oddly flat and a little underwhelming.

Something did click eventually and there are moments I liked but they were mostly too little too late by then. The poster promises something different and you can see potential in the material but this experience feels like an uninspired TV pilot that sparks up occasionally but generally feels, if not stalled, definitely perfunctory.