The Dark Tower (2017)

The Dark Tower (2017)

Dir.  Nikolaj Arcel

'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.' Those twelve words, the opening paragraph in the first part of Stephen King's fantasy western opus, will resonate with anyone that's read the book. Nothing about the film adaptation, however, has even the slightest hint of such resonance.

It begins with Jake (Tom Taylor) in NY, which, as fans will know, means it draws from more than the first book. The boy is having dreams about the Tower that include the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey); but revealing the primary antagonist so early robs him of any and all mystery; he's a man who ought to be partially defined by his elusiveness. But that's only the beginning of the film's failings; there are many, many more reasons to turn off.

Idris Elba is weak as Roland Deschain, the book's famous gunslinger. The world in which he exists, Mid-World, gets minimal characterisation, as do its peoples. There's no allure, no sense of history, and no understanding of the series' rich lore. It barely even qualifies as a Western; it has more in common with Sci-fi.

There's an action scene reminiscent of Book V: Wolves of the Calla (2003), but the rest of Dir. Nikolaj Arcel's film is truly awful. The filmmakers claim it's canonical; I've read all eight of the books and can understand why they think that, but it doesn't deserve to be perceived as such.

If the rumoured TV Series ever gets off the ground, fingers crossed they start the whole thing over and don't try to continue this travesty. And hopefully they recast everyone.