The Dark Tower (2017)

A major frustration with many Stephen King adaptations is that, due to copyright or other issues, the interconnectiveness of the stories never shines through.  Even a story like Hearts in Atlantis, which was integral in introducing Ted Brautigan, a character that would figure heavily in the last few Dark Tower books, got adapted in a way to where it left the important parts out and concentrated on the coming-of-age story.  After ignoring all the connections for so long I was surprised to find out that an adaptation of The Dark Tower series was a thing.

Then came the bad news.  The movie is only 95 minutes, hardly the time needed to encapsulate eight books' worth of material, even if it skipped some of the parts that felt more like wheel-spinning on King's part or the awful decision of including himself as a character in the last couple tomes.  It also did what too many movies do these days and race swapped Roland Deschain, who in the books is obviously modeled on Clint Eastwood from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.  It was also PG-13, where the books were ultra-violent dark fantasy.  The Gunslinger, the first book in the series, is rather short and would probably fit in the time allotted, but even that was pushed aside for a new story.  With massive reshoots and a failure to capture an audience in the U.S. The Dark Tower quickly faded from public consciousness, a forgotten relic to ponder while occasional stories pop up about a possible miniseries.

What most of the critics didn't get, however, was that this is a sequel to the books and not a straight adaptation.  They also failed to realize that, despite its short length and rushed worldbuilding, The Dark Tower is a pretty good bit of modern science fiction.

Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) is a teenage boy in a New York suddenly ravaged by earthquakes.  Jake has constant dreams of a man in black (Matthew McConaughey) using children to destroy a tower located at the center of the universe.  His mother (Katheryn Winnick) and stepfather (Nicholas Pauling) don't believe him and plan to ship him off to a special center to get the help he needs.  However, Jake soon realizes that the people from the center are the same people from his dreams who wear fake skin to cover up the fact that they are not human.

Also in his dreams is a gunslinger (Idris Elba) named Roland.  His visions soon lead him to a portal which takes him to Midworld, a parallel version of Earth where Roland pursues the man in black, whose name happens to be Walter.  Walter is a sorcerer.  However, his magic has no effect on Roland, while Jake is possessed of "the shine", a powerful psychic ability that Walter intends to harvest in order to bring down the Tower once and for all.  

While initially the casting of Idris Elba as Roland may be a head-scratcher, he does well in the role.  In fact, everyone does, including Matthew McConaughey as one of King's most enduring villains.  The problem is that anyone going to see a movie version of The Gunslinger is going to be disappointed.  The Dark Tower takes place after the end of the last book when it is revealed that Roland's journey is one that repeats, with minor changes, with the promise that someday he may get it right.  Whether or not this is the time is not revealed as there were plans to adapt The Drawing of the Three, the second novel in the series, if this movie succeeded.

It did not, at least in the U.S.  It did well worldwide as it is a short, fast-paced film that, despite the complicated backstory, is condensed well by the team of writers.  Nikolaj Arcel, a Danish director making his first American film, does a decent job, although sometimes the filming is overprocessed in a way that reminds me of Darryn Lynn Bousman.  The studio didn't trust Arcel and the movie, after bad test screenings, was heavily altered. 

Despite all the issues the movie does not deserve the bad reputation it has.  It holds together, Midworld is faithful to King's vision, and the script puts a whole new spin on the story, which was the point of Roland having to relive his journey.  The big problem is that there is no way to properly present even a new version of the story and satisfy an audience looking for the epic journey to that occupies the first three books.  It was a nice try but, in the end, what is really needed is room for the story to expand and breathe.  What we have here is good, but it is merely the introduction to a wider world that, at this juncture, may never be explored.

The Dark Tower (2017)

Time: 95 minutes

Starring: Idris Elba, Tom Taylor, Matthew McConaughey

Director: Nikolaj Arcel