First let me say that I was a huge Stephen King reader back in high school and devoured every one of his books.  That is, except for the Gunslinger series. I tried it but it just wasn’t interesting to me. I tried again in college and once again found it couldn’t keep me interested.

I was invited to see The Dark Tower so figured I would give it a shot. Well, it was easier to swallow than the book, but still nothing too exciting. In fact, it was obvious there was way too much book to fit into a single movie. That could be why so many of the pieces seemed disjointed, unexplained or just downright weird.

I do have to say that I loved Idris Elba as Roland Deschaine. I have read that fans of the book were put off by him as the gunslinger but since I never got into the book, he works for me. I have also heard there will be an upcoming TV series starring Elba as well – that might work because it will give more time to explain the story and give Elba a chance to show his acting chops.

Matthew McConaughey as The Man in Black was not a good fit for me. It could just be the character but casting him hurt my acceptance of the character. I just kept waiting for him to say, “Alright, alright, alright – sleep.”

The special effects looked decent at times and cheesy at others. Overall, it is a visually impressive misfire that does a good job of showing Elba’s acting skills well.

by Chris Doelle

RATING 4 out of 10
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