The Dark Tower

THE DARK TOWER

Director : Nikolaj Arcel

Year : 2017

Genre : Science Fiction 

Rating : *1/2

What happens when you take eight incredibly dense and complex novels from one of the worlds most revered authors and squeeze them dry of cohesion, comprehensibility or even basic entertainment value? You get 'The Dark Tower', a dreary and surprisingly forgettable sci-fi romp that somehow manages to transform one of Stephen Kings most revered series of books into a 95 minute long exercise in utter tedium and confusion. Despite delivering a strong performance, Idris Elba is all but wasted in the lead role of Roland a.k.a The Gunslinger, a gruff inter-dimensional mercenary who enlists in the help of a talented young New Yorker (Jake Chambers) to eradicate the magical and malevolent Man In Black, a villainous sorceror played with scenery-chewing gusto by Matthew McConaughey who plans to destroy the titular edifice and bring chaos to entire universe.  

Having stagnated in the fiery depths of development hell for the best part of a decade - both J.J Abrams and Ron Howard have been attached to the project - an adaptation of  'The Dark Tower' has been a long time coming. Now 10 years after its initial inception , Nikolaj Arcel (director of the exquisite 2012 Danish period drama 'A Royal Affair') finally brings King's acclaimed fantasy series to the big screen; yet the wait has been all for nothing. With a rather unique blend of incoherent storytelling, risible dialogue and total disregard for the source material, Arcel and his team of three screenwriters have created a movie that will not only annoy devotees of the books but one that will also annoy regular cinemagoers oblivious to the overarching narrative of the literary saga. Plans may already be in place for both a cinematic sequel and an upcoming TV series but this 'Tower' lacks the necessary foundations to conjure up any kind of interest in me.