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★★★
Directed by Nikolaj Arcel Starring Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert Film Review by Niall Maggs
The Dark Tower stars Idris Elba and is based on the book series by Stephen King, and tells the story of the Gunslinger (Elba) and a young boy known as Jake (Tom Taylor) who has strange visions of a mysterious tower and The Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), while no one else believes him, a sinister plot is commencing involving everyone on earth.
First off, McConaughey, is the stand out in this movie and even outshines Elba! The man has clearly proven he is one of the best actors of all time. He’s creepy, evil, despicable, but interesting and mysterious. Idris Elba is terrific as the lead role, he’s believably cool and tough, and someone for the audience to root for. This is a classic trope of good versus evil, with lots of fun action.
Tom Taylor is also very good as Jake. He has dreams of this mythical world and creates drawings, but everyone is convinced he’s crazy! An obvious cliché but realistic nonetheless. Quite often, kids in movies can be quite annoying, but Taylor is excellent and could prove to be one to watch in the future.
The special effects are imaginative and absorbing during The Dark Tower. The entertainment level outshines the quality, which is the clear intention of the storyline, with exhilarating action sequences which makes the short run time speed past!
Nikolaj Arcel’s direction is flawed, which is the films biggest weak point. The movie would’ve benefited from a longer run time as the characters aren’t explored and there is little to no character development. Although the action is almost constant, it doesn’t feel as if the story develops and just comes to an abrupt and sudden conclusion.
Beyond the multiple flaws, The Dark Tower is still great fun and doesn’t let you take a breather, with entertaining action scenes, but lacks in character and story development. The flick will probably spawn multiple sequels where more of the engrossing world will hopefully be explored.
Watch the official The Dark Tower movie trailer below...
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