'THE DARK TOWER' which I saw late last week started life way back in 1982 when prolific American author Stephen King first penned the initial book in a series of eight books titled 'The Dark Tower : The Gunslinger'. The series incorporates themes from a multitude of genres, including dark fantasy, science fantasy, horror, and Western. It describes a titular 'gunslinger' and his journey to protect the Dark Tower, the nature of which is both physical and metaphorical and which supports all realities. King's series was written over the ensuing years with the last instalment appearing in 2012. The series, and its use of the Dark Tower, expands upon Stephen King's multiverse and in so doing, brings together many of his other works. In addition to the eight novels of the series, many of King's other books relate to the story, introducing concepts and characters that come into being as the series continues. There have been various formats developed over the years to the series including comic books, audio books, an online game, talk of a television series and now a major film adaptation that has been on again off again since 2007 when J.J. Abrams was connected to the film for a number of years before handing over the baton to Ron Howard. In 2015 Danish Director Nikolaj Arcel was hired to helm the film that we have today. Costing US$60M to make, the film was released Stateside in early August to generally poor press having so far recouped US$72M.
Here then we have eleven year old lad Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) living in New York City and experiencing repetitive nightmares of an old West style gunslinger, a man dressed in black and a tall tower. He commits his visions to pencil drawings depicting in some detail what he sees when he sleeps. At the same time as his visions occur NYC, and indeed others parts of the world, experience earthquakes and severe tremors that are occurring more frequently and with greater impact. Jake's mother Laurie (Katheryn Winnick), her live in boyfriend and Jake's psychiatrist dismiss his visions as simple dreams resulting from the death of his father a year or so ago now. This irks Jake that no one will take him seriously, and his ramblings about strange figures and another world equally irks his mother who is becoming less and less tolerant of his behaviour.
One day, at his apartment home a pair of workers from a specialist psychiatric centre appear offering to take Jake for treatment over the course of one weekend. His mother is all in favour of this as a last resort, after all, what harm can it do, and he'll be in the care of professional experts. Jake quickly realises however, that something is not quite right with the pair, recognising their kind from his visions as monsters wearing human skin to disguise themselves, and by their hand gestures. He flees the apartment with the two giving chase but manages to evade them on the busy city streets. Meanwhile he traces a ramshackle old house he saw in his visions, as having some important meaning and heads there believing it to be connected in some way, but he knows not how or why. He gains access to the boarded up old house, and discovers a digital key pad mounted on the wall. He punches in a number, 19-19, which he also saw in his visions, and a portal opens up with destination Mid-World - a post-apocalyptic place.
He reluctantly steps into the portal and emerges out the other side in a desert wasteland. The portal closes behind him. He walks and walks eventually coming across a Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) who is initially wary of young Jake believing him to have been sent by the 'Man in Black'. Jake shows him a picture of a pencil drawing he made of the Gunslinger from his visions, as well as others. This appeases Roland, who agrees to let Jake travel with him to a village where his visions and his drawings can be interpreted by a seer. As the two get to know each other it emerges that the Gunslinger has made it his life's mission to chase down and kill Walter Padick, the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), also appearing in Jake's visions, for killing his father Steven (Dennis Haysbert). Roland explains to Jake that Walter has been abducting young psychic children to harness their powers to destroy the Dark Tower - a tall monolithic structure that is at the very centre of the universe that connects all worlds and realities. By destroying it, this will allow the monsters from the dark outside to gain access and ultimately destroy reality. Walter has had some success with direct hits on the Dark Tower explaining the earthquakes and tremors felt on Earth. What occurs in one world is echoed in the adjoining worlds!
Roland and Jake arrive at the village and meet with the most powerful seer there who warns Jake that his 'shine' (his psychic ability) is so powerful that he needs to control it, otherwise it acts like a beacon which will enable Walter to track him. Meanwhile Walter has visited Earth to learn from the two undercover specialist psychiatric centre abductors how they were thwarted by an eleven year old, and to learn of his whereabouts. He ends up at Jake's apartment, and quickly dispenses with Laurie's boyfriend and then interrogates her to determine Jake's last known whereabouts by reading her mind. Then he dispenses with her too. Walter visits the house where the portal is located that allowed Jake to access Mid-World, and deduces that the boy is there, and is with the Gunslinger. He has also come to realise that Jake's psychic abilities are so powerful that he can single handedly destroy the Dark Tower.
Back in the village the seer explains that Walters base of Earth operations is in New York City, and to gain access to Walter in Mid-World it is easiest and quickest to do so via a portal there, or travel on foot across Mid-World - a journey taking six months. There is a portal in the village which has not been fired up for some time, and in doing so is likely to alert Walter, but they have no choice. Walter sends in his minions to capture Jake, but Roland almost single handedly dispenses with them all, so allowing the pair to successfully step through the portal to Earth and New York City. Jake returns to his apartment home to check up on his mother and her boyfriend, only to find them both dead. Roland comforts a distraught Jake vowing vengeance. He teaches Jake the Gunslingers creed and how to handle a gun - 'I do not aim with my hand … I aim with my eye. I do not shoot with my hand … I shoot with my mind. I do not kill with my gun … I kill with my heart'.
Ready to do battle with the Man in Black and confront him once and for all, Roland stockpiles up on a necessary haul of bullets, which are in short supply on Mid-World but ever plentiful on Earth. In the gun store Walter appears and captures Jake, taking him through a portal straight to his base on Mid-World. There he straps Jake to a chair to harness his psychic powers to bring down the Dark Tower.
Meanwhile back on Earth, Roland goes head to head with Walter's henchmen led by Sayre (Jackie Earle Haley) who prove to be no match for the well seasoned Gunslinger. Jake, in the meantime is able to use his psychic powers, despite his predicament, to convey a message back to Roland alerting him of his whereabouts.
Walter uses the portal to transport himself back to his base in New York City where Roland has just finished 'tidying up', with the intention of dispensing with the Gunslinger in a final face off. The two are evenly matched but in the end Walter wounds Roland, and as he lay on the ground, his guns just beyond reach and now defenceless, Jake sends a psychic message to Roland reminding him of the Gunslingers Creed. This is enough for Roland to muster his strength, and using a trick shot, takes out Walter with a couple of bullets, the final blow striking him dead centre in the forehead. Dead! With the portal remaining open Roland destroys the machine to which Jake was harnessed, allowing Jake to make a narrow escape through the portal before it is closed.
And so the Dark Tower remains intact, and life on Earth can carry on as it has. With Roland and Jake chowing down on a hot dog - the concept of which Roland doesn't quite understand, the Gunslinger announces that he must return to Mid-World. Jake is disheartened by this news, but Roland then speaks up inviting Jake to join him as his companion, after all, he has no reason now to stay on Earth. Jake smiles, and accepts the offer. They disappear into a nondescript building, in which is a portal through which they transport themselves back to Mid-World.
'The Dark Tower' has come in for some fairly scathing Reviews from both fans and critics alike, largely expecting a more faithful adaptation of the source material, rather than the film being Hollywoodised. That said, unlike the legions of all knowing fans, I have not read any of Stephen King's Dark Tower series of novels, and so the film represents a whole new experience for me and an introduction to the series that may well become a franchise. At about ninety minutes running time, this film does not outstay its welcome. It moves along at a brisk pace and maintains the interest throughout. Both Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are top notch in their respective roles, and I found the storyline to be cohesive, easy to follow, but little that we haven't seen before. What was lacking for me was some back story about Jake, Roland, Walter and the Dark Tower itself especially - how they came to be, their motivations, what drives them and what is it about the Dark Tower that makes one want to protect it with all his being, and the other destroy it with all his being? King's novels have been adapted to the big screen with mixed results for over thirty years now, and this just adds another notch to the Gunslingers holster. It is neither a great film nor a bad one, it has some redeeming features, and if a sequel does follow together with the planned television series then perhaps there is life in the franchise yet. You don't need to see this on the big screen, and can easily wait for the BluRay or download.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete