CAST: Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Idris Elba

DIRECTION: Nikolaj Arcel

GENRE: Fantasy

DURATION: 1 hour 40 minutes

STORY

New York kid Jake (Tom Taylor) is gifted. He sees visions that revolve around a mysterious ‘man in black’ Walter (Matthew McConaughey) and his attack on the Dark Tower by using the power siphoned from telepathic children. As Jake’s nightmarish visions come to life, he comes across Roland (Idris Elba), the Gunslinger, who is immune to Walter’s psychic powers and has the ability to safeguard the tower that holds the universe together. The two must protect the world from Walter’s destructive plans.

REVIEW

Based on Stephen King’s The Dark Tower book series, the film is about the eternal fight between good and evil. Those who protect versus those who destroy. Can life (Roland and Jake) win over death (Walter) or is death the ultimate conqueror? The metaphors are aplenty.

Though the film is a fantasy, what essentially works for it is the father-son bond between Jake and Roland. Idris Alba’s charisma and effortless screen presence lends gravitas to the script and salvages the otherwise predictable plot. Matthew McConaughey makes bad look sexy. Sadly, his contrived and vague character fails to make an impression and ends up as a weak link.

About the story, you don’t have to read the books to understand this one, which works. On the flip side, despite being gripping, it’s quite underwhelming. While The Matrix like action and slowmo bullet battles keep you hooked, the story fails to work on a deeper level as motives remain unexplained (perhaps for sequels to follow).

The Dark Tower keeps you engaged but fails to go beyond offering you some generic escapism.