The Dark Tower (2017)

My Review

“The Dark Tower” is a neo-Western science fiction horror film about a boy and a gunslinger who team up to stop an evil troublemaker out to destroy the universe by knocking down the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. Danish director Nikolaj Arcel, who co-wrote the screenplay with three others, attempts to put this genre-mixing film into an entertaining and exciting movie. He fails miserably, due unfocused directing and confused writing. The screenplay was adapted from “The Dark Tower,” a series of eight novels by Stephen King, published from 1982-2012.

The cast is headed by Idris Elba as the last gunslinger, Matthew McConaughey as the heavy of the piece, and Tom Taylor as young Jake Chambers, who was selected for the role after an international search. Also along for the ride are Jackie Earle Hayler, Dennis Haysbert, Claudia Kim, Fran Kranz, Abbey Lee, and Michael Barbieri. The unwatchable “The Dark Tower” was a commercial failure for producer Ron Howard, Columbia Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, and Sony Pictures Releasing. It was shot primarily in South Africa.