The Dark Tower
The Dark Tower written by Stephen King and adapted for the screen and directed by Nikolaj Arcel, stars Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey and Tom Taylor. The film is set around a tower that protects the many worlds and realities from the monsters and demons whom live outside the universes that the Tower protects. Jake (Tom Taylor) is plagued by dreams of this place, and two particular people who reside there, The Man in Black (McConaughey) and The Gunslinger (Elba). He draws them with great detail and believes that these dreams are real, whereas everyone else thinks he’s crazy. It soon becomes clear that these aren’t just dreams and Jake falls into an adrenaline fueled adventure surrounding The Dark Tower.
McConaughey’s and Elba’s characters are nemesis’ and this works really well, and they put on a superb show of their talent as actors. Tom Taylor, a real newcomer to film, after appearing in some small roles on TV, really shined in this movie, showing his potential as a young up and coming actor.
If you enjoy Stephen King’s other books, there are plenty of little easter eggs to keep your eye out for. The most notable one for me was an IT reference to Pennywise the dancing clown, where in the ruins of an amusement park you see a hand holding 3 balloons coming out of the ground, similar to Pennywise’s love of prowling the underground, and the ruins of a sign reading Pennywise. This reference all fits into the film as Pennywise is a demon that comes from outside of the world, like he’s managed to come through when the dark tower was being attacked.
The films plot and visual effects were quite simply among some of the best I’ve seen this year, from the sci fi element, of the teleportation devices and the fantasy element of the Man in Black’s powers as a sorcerer. It was a genre mash up of Western, Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy and it combined to create something really special and among the likes I had never seen before.
The film is just simply that great.
Rating: M Violence.
FILMGUIDE rating:
