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Starring
Matthew McConaughey – Walter
Idris Elba – Roland
Tom Taylor – Walter
Summary
“The last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black, 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.”
-From IMDB.com
Review
I’ve been waiting a while to see this movie, especially after I had read the first book of the series last year. After the first book, I was really wondering how they were going to put all of that into a movie, especially with how complex and confusing it was. I really struggled to write the book review for it because it was one of those books that was quite difficult to summarize and turn into words. So how would they visualize it all?
Well I got my answer. They dumbed it down….a lot. While the basic idea was there, it was nothing like the first book. I mean they started to play around with what was given to them. In the book, there was a lot more of it based on a derelict world with everything destroyed. It felt like a wild west kind of book, but the movie was based more in NYC and a little bit in the waste land around the other universes. I mean, sure it worked, but if you read the book you would most likely be a little disappointed.
Don’t get my wrong, I did really enjoy it and I absolutely loved the cast. Idris Elba was a perfect Gunslinger and Matthew McConaughey was an amazing Man in Black, but I felt like there just could have been so much more. It quickly explained who the Man in Black was, and that he was magical, but in the book you never really understood. Of course I only ever read book one. But considering how many books that the movie series had to work with, with each book averaging about 500 pages (and some as long as 800!) they honestly could have done so much.
The movie was also only 95 minutes too. Harry Potter Book 1 was the same length and it got a movie that was over two hours. Of course, it was much more popular but I feel when you make a movie based on a book, you need to stick a little closer.
They answered a lot of questions that were left unanswered, or made you wonder, in the book. It was clear the movie ended in a way that meant that another one wasn’t needed. So if you watch it, you wouldn’t be waiting for a second movie. With the book, it had a similar way to end, like you could just not continue to read, but there were so many questions left unanswered. The movie was a nice neat package.
Visually the movie was incredible. it was beautiful and the gun-work rivaled that of John Wick 1 and 2 (which I thought was impossible)! But the Gunslinger is supposed to be incredible with weapons. It was just impressive to see that.
But the idea of the book, the deeper psychological and philosophical idea seemed to be completely ignored in the book. So I was a little upset about that.
C’est la vie…nothing you can really do.
If you haven’t read the book, it’s a good movie. If you have read it, you might be a little underwhelmed.
For a more detailed technical review, check out here!
Happy Watching!
