The Dark Tower

The Dark Tower began with an interesting text premise. A tower is present, guarding all realms of the world from evil, as explained later on by The Gunslinger (Idris Elba) through an exposition. Next, you see The Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) attempting to destroy the very same structure using the only force that could possibly do so - the mind of a child. With this quick and short information, you know where the story is headed and admittedly, it's intriguing.

We are then introduced to our protagonist, Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor). He has a pitiful life and background, which the actor sold quite excellently from his looks to performance. Despite the lazy writing that shows events transpiring in the boy's dream, the first chase sequence of him escaping his house has emotional bolsters to back it up. Interconnective concepts are impressive, for example, there were plausible reasons for earthquakes and child-kidnapping that link Mid-World to ours. Specifically numbered gateway portals to travel through both worlds and two distinct perceptions about a mental condition are seamless nuances to be appreciated. Since Jake is the kid the antagonist has been wanting for all this while, he goes on a search to locate him, as how The Gunslinger and the boy try to do the same towards the villain. Simple and understandable plot.

So, where do the problems lie? The depths. There aren't any. Everything is on a surface level. We are not sure who The Man in Black is or what are his motivations. Nothing's dug deep regarding the major significance of the tower or why the mind of a child is the tool to destruct it. We are not sure what's the role of The Gunslingers community in the Mid-World or what is so exclusive to Roland that he is the only one who could defy the powers of Walter. This script and the resulting film had potentials. So many scenes and sequences could have been dedicated to build this universe. Instead, what we got were mundane monster attacks, meeting dead loved ones and dream clichés.

Katheryn Winnick's performance as Jake's mum seem to have been done without any interest. Kidnappers who came to abduct Jake acted on an obvious ulterior motive that any parent would hesitate to send their kid with such dodgy strangers. Computer graphics were bad! Wood planks gathering to attack Jake is a good idea of preventing breach, but executed lousily. The Man in Black is an entity with enormous supernatural abilities who could get to anywhere he wishes to, but purposefully delayed so that the runtime could be prolonged. He's easily killed too! The way the climax battle ensued, concluded and Jake running away from the beam-ejecting machine were also, easy. Whenever the fantasy elements slip into the real world, these two did not coexist very well. This might be a nit-pick, but when The Gunslinger entered the final portal to have a head-on with The Man in Black, his arsenal of bullets on the belt-front were empty, due to the previous duel prior to arriving here. The next shot however, displayed that the pouches were full again.

There are definitely memorable scenes in the feature, that's for sure. For one, whenever The Gunslinger loads his pistol, be it the slow-motioned clip at the closure or when he runs the gun cylinder at the belt-side for a quick refill, it's a stylish beauty to watch! There's one silenced episode to watch out for when Roland shoots with his intuition and heartbeat! His visits to the restaurant, hot dog stand, hospital or firearms store were funny. By far, the most charismatic actor to admire in the picture was Matthew McConaughey. Prosthetics were good, as well as the colour and tone. Even with all the flaws aforementioned, at the end of the day, we as the audiences still care a little and did not want the tower to be wrecked. That's partial success.