Stephen King is making a comeback this year with this movie and the movie, IT, coming out this September. I have to admit I have only a partial segment of a Stephen King book and that would be The Shining, and on writing, it is still a scary movie as a man is slowly creeping up to kill his family in an isolated hotel on a snowy night. But, as his genre is making a comeback, there is much speculation about the behind-the-scenes of the film as they distribute it on the Sony lot where the buzz of its early screening was not good. So, the Sony executives made a decision to shorten this movie that was adapted from the Dark Tower series. Think about it; a 4,000-page book into a 90-minute movie? Umm...yeah, from my experience of watching this movie, the movie felt like it was rushed with many scenes missing and instead the product is basically atmosphere, tone and two solid performances.
Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), an eleven year old boy who has had a traumatic year because of his father's death, is experiencing visions of the Man in Black who seeks to destroy a Tower and a Gunslinger who tries to take him down. His mother, stepfather and psychiatrists are concerned for him as he thinks he is daydreaming of these visions because of the tragedy last year. After he abandons psychiatrists who are disguised as monsters from one of his visions, Jake goes to an abandoned house from one of his visions and sees a portal that transports him into the Mid-World.
While in Mid-World, Jake encounters the Gunslinger (Idris Elba), whose name is Roland, is in pursuit of Walter (Matthew McConaughey), the Man in Black because of an unfortunate event that involved his father. But Roland is also stopping Walter from abducting psychic children to use their powers to destroy the Dark Tower, which will release monsters and other supernatural creatures into the real world.
This was a huge disappointment and a terribly missed opportunity for the filmmakers and writers. This movie is pam-jacked with many issues that ranges from really moody and terrible cinematography, bad editing and a layered plot that should have been extended to a two-and-a-half hour movie or on a series on Netflix. Here's the problem: its storyline should have been more simplistic but the movie is overwhelmed with so much plot and character development that you get confused as to what is going on and as to why such scenes are inserted in such arbitrary places that you feel like a forlorn figure not given the basics to follow a Stephen King adaptation. The material is too heavy-handed for a short film. It felt like I was watching both the pilot of a TV show and the season finale in 90 minutes.
Idris Elba is good as the Gunslinger, showing off his gunslinging tricks and has a grand presence on-screen. You do care about him as he is on his quest to take down the Man in Black. He has nice chemistry with the kid, well-played by Tom Taylor. Their banter between them is good and also sweet as we approach the end of the second act as something happens that I cannot reveal. McConaughey was in a streak of good movies for a while with great performances and fleshed out characters. His performance as the villain is one of his worst because he felt like an evil twin of himself in a Lincoln commercial as he recites some silly dialogue to scare characters and the audience. Plus, he looks like he is strolling like a cool villain than becoming a scary Stephen King villain.
Director Nikolaj Arcel and writers Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Arcel's effort to create such a solid entry into the Dark Tower universe was a letdown as the story was not solely incomprehensible and not carry out a well-constructed arc. But, the movie is also dull. I was amazed of how short it was because the movie fell lengthy of its disorganized narrative and lack of depth in its storytelling and characters. Oh, well, there are many wounds to conceal from their effort but I don't know if Sony's many wounds will be covered enough to make another movie for a franchise. Move on to a series on TV or on streaming services.
*1/2
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