Even putting aside the fact that the series is lengthy and deep, this outing had several things working against it. With only a 95 minute run time, a lot feels glossed over. There's a lot more telling than showing and Roland's big arc feels rushed.
The latter part is also due to the fact that Jake is made the main character. I get it, he's from our world, so he can be the audience identifier. On the other hand, when you're coming in to see Idris Elba, Tom Taylor doesn't really cut it. He does OK for the most part, but that wasn't what we were sold. This problem does fix itself once Jake makes it to Mid-world and partners up with Roland, but it does lead to a first act that feels slow and is generally unwelcome.
There is also a noticeable lack of tension at several points. The action sequences are largely well done and have their fair share of highlights, but it still feels hollow.
What really props this take up is the two leads. Granted, Elba doesn't have a whole lot to do, but when he has material to work with, he brings what he can. While he does well showing off Roland's badassery, I think the fish out of water scenes in New York will leave a more lasting impression on viewers.
McConaughey, on the other hand, works really well as Walter aka The Man in Black. He's clearly having fun with it, but he's also able to bring a good amount of menace to his performance. He is also able to use Kilgrave's skill set much more effectively. Yeah, that's right, he came off much creepier and unnerving than Tennant.
As this is an attempt to streamline the narrative, there are lots of little homages to specific aspects of the books. Fittingly, the movie also makes nods to other King works. Jake is a psychic now, with it specifically being referred to as "the shine". Roland also uses a spider as an example when talking about the dark forces that exist beyond the barrier of the multiverse. Heck, even the main plot itself of using psychic kids to power a big machine is taken straight from "Black House". The people behind this were clearly familiar with the material, they just didn't have the time to bring it all together as effectively as one might hope.
One thing that Dark Tower fans were quick to note was that Roland still had the horn. This was meant to indicate that this wasn't so much an adaptation of the books, but a sort of sequel. It was a clever way to explain the differences and give the producers some leeway, but I'm afraid even that only goes so far. I mean, even the nature of the tower itself is different. I don't know if you can handwave that with "time loop". Not much is made of the horn or the time loop, though Walter does have one line where he compares Roland's quest (as well as their overall conflict) to a dog playing fetch. I thought it was an amusing wink to the fans.
This is hardly the worst King adaptation out there. It's not awful, there are things to like, but it is an underwhelming undertaking. I think a longer run time would have really helped get us invested in this world. As it is, it's just blah. I know the intent was to turn this into a multi-movie franchise, but I'm not sure how that would work. Walter's dead (though they could write that off as some sort of trick.) The movie does allude to the Crimson King, but would he just do the same thing? Would some other dark force be enlisted that would force Roland to go to the tower? I have no idea, but it's a moot point as the movie didn't do so hot at the box office and a sequel seems unlikely. I've heard rumors that they are trying to do a TV series based on the books. The way the story is structured they could "reboot" it by just making that another loop and still keeping it all canon. We'll see if that ever comes to fruition, though. In the meantime, this one doesn't hurt, but there's no real reason to go out of your way to see it. It's worth a rental at best, but there are better options out there.
Click here to become a Swagbucks member
Click here to join our Patreon campaign
No comments:
Post a Comment