As with every other summer film season, we see a plethora of big-budget, commercial films to last a lifetime. So many that I start yearning for a nice indie film or a documentary that I can sink my teeth into. Well, if I can't have one the last two types of films above, a good second would be that of "The Dark Tower".
The Last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O'Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.
An imaginative boy, Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), who has constant visions or dreams of this other world, is transported to this fantasy realm, where he gets caught up in the epic battle as Roland trains him to defend himself. Later, Roland's quest to defend the magical tower from the Man in Black leads him to follow the boy back to Earth.
Others to round out the cast are Claudia Kim as Arra Champignon, a shine or a visionary, Fran Kranz as Pimli, Abbey Lee as Tirana, Kathryn Winnick as Laurie Chambers, Jake's mom, Nicholas Hamilton as Lucas Hanson, a next door neighbor buddy of Jake's, Jackie Earle Haley as Sayre, Jose Zuniga as Dr. Hotchkiss, Nicholas Pauling as Lon and Ella Gabriel as Rose.
This was intensely and grittily directed by Nikolaj Arcel ("King's Game" '04, "Island of Lost Souls" '07, "Truth About Men" '10, "A Royal Affair" '12) plus a short. The way this filmmaker was able to shoot this story in such a clever and slick way was riveting and captivating. This guy will receive more work without a problem. It was written well by Akiva Goldsman, Jeff Pinkner, Anders Thomas Jensen and Arcel based on the "Dark Tower" novels by Stephen King. Usually I have come to realize that if there is more than two writers attached to a production, the script has a tendency to meander and gets choppy, but with this, I didn't find that to be the case at all. Certainly these writers are experienced and that speaks volumes, but when your work you are basing your screenplay is based on someone like King, how could any writer go wrong? This film doesn't explain all there is to this King story, because this is to merely introduce us to the characters involved and put them in a storyline so as for us to get to know them more. Was this film perfect? No, but since the only problem I had with this was in a scene where the sound effects seemed to compete with the music, this story simply soared. The fact that it 'cut to the chase' practically from the very start was a definite plus for this film. And the visual effects predominantly designed by MPC (Moving Picture Company) and RISE were seamless and definitely enhanced the story.
Even if big-budget, commercial films aren't your cup of tea, the originality of story and the slickness of presentation will intrigue you and keep one riveted. And both McConaughey and Elba gave captivating performances as well. You've got to see this on the large screen and given that, it's presented in a nifty 4DX format as well as the regular format.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: PG-13 95mins.
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