Rating: 3/5
Based on the Stephen King book series, The Dark Tower follows Roland Deschain (Idris Alba), the last Gunslinger who has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey). Roland is determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together and with the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil collide in the ultimate battle.
The plot we are presented with in The Dark Tower is new and interesting, but the structure of the movie was a bit choppy. According to the New York Times, the books end “after thousands of pages in a manner that suggests the story can and will continue”…but we didn't quite see that here. Combining genres like western, fantasy, horror and a little bit of sci-fi, this movie had definite promise in the uniqueness game but it had its blunders.
I think the biggest thing I could say I didn't care for was the fact that there were MANY questions left unanswered, and not in a way that was a cliffhanger or that made me curious for the next installment.
I personally haven't read the books, but I knew about the series vaguely from a few years ago. There weren't many pieces in the movie that I felt were truly dynamic or stunning, and that was a bit disappointing. Almost all of the cool interesting scenes were in the promotional trailers and that made the rest of the film feel a little bit empty when you finally sit down to see it in the theater.
The movie had a generally intriguing story that left you curious to see what happens next, but it didn't deliver in a way that was fulfilling in the end. I mentioned earlier that it left a lot unanswered which was frustrating and it felt like more of bad writing choice than it was a suspenseful ending. (Despite major talks of a sequel, it seemed very rushed.)
The casting and general acting of the movie were nicely done, and the roles all fit together. Each character interacted among each other naturally and it was overall a pretty nice job. That along with the general telling of the characters stories went together nicely and made the story more interesting.
Overall, this movie was more than I expected but less than what I’d hoped for. If you're looking for a fresh spin on a story but not necessarily in ‘Lord of the Rings’ depth, go see it!