It's definitely one that gets worse the more I think about it. About 30 minutes in I was thinking "this isn't bad at all" but as it ends (its a very short film) it just falls short in every aspect. Poor development of the relationship between the Gunslinger and Jake and a disconnect as to what story they're trying to tell. The potential is there, and the leads are good (McConaughey is an afterthought, not really sure why people say he's Razzie bad, he's barely in the movie), the execution is just off. Too bad, I'm actually interested in where the story goes, I guess I'll read the summaries of the books on Wiki.

Or you could read the actual books!?

Yeah, just jump right in to the 8-part book series. Have fun.

This is not so bad. It is perhaps anticlimactic after a over a decade's worth of failed attempts to adapt Stephen King's flawed, glorious, sprawling eight-novel fantasy saga for the big screen, but it is very entertaining as a fast-paced, lean, mostly unpretentious genre film. It firmly held my attention and is never less than competently produced. Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey deliver above-average performances—the former charismatic and stoic, the latter preening and tastily malevolent—and British teenage actor Tom Taylor is an engaging and sympathetic lead/audience surrogate. What the film could use is simply...more: more eerie-neat creature F/X and world building, more character development, an extra set piece or two, a more elaborate final battle, etc. It feels overly satisfied going 70 percent of the way, with being all right and acceptable, and would benefit from an injection of extra imagination and maybe even a dose of madness. But at the same time, it is fine and closer to the top of the King-on-screen canon than the bottom.

B/B-

Gunslinger, Drawing, Wastelands, Wizard, Wolves, Song, Dark Tower. What is the 8th?

People read long book series all the time.

The eighth is the 2012 midquel Wind Through the Keyhole

I have not read it, nor, sadly, have I finished the original series (I was quite a fan of the first few in my teenage years), but I thought The Wind Through the Keyhole was accepted as a proper Dark Tower novel.

It is.

This was fast paced and well sewn together never overstaying its welcome but also never taking a breather and glossing through a lot of material that the non-book readers would not have time to think about. The story comes out as very generic which never exceeding in any aspects. There is also not much at stake or the gravitas of it were never felt; the only time I remember emotional connection was the death of a parent. The biggest flaw is the bond between Jake and Roland which is why this feels more rushed than usual. McConaghey feels wasted here and Elba just plays himself. I also felt it lacked much imagination and made this look like just another Western mash-up with futuristic technology.

5/10

I do not believe it is fair to say Elba just plays himself. No, he is not transforming into Stephen Hawking, but he doesn't use his natural accent and conveys a nice sense of cynicism and exhaustion. He sells the character within the space allowed to him.

On another note, this is the third summer 2017 movie to reference Arthurian legend, albeit more briefly than Transformers 5 and, of course, the Guy Ritchie movie. Hollywood bet big on Arthur this year.

LOL - now that I'd like to see!

I really liked this and am genuinely confused at the terrible reviews. Sure some things could have landed with a bit more oomph, and the movie badly needed a scene where Roland sacrificed his revenge for the greater good. It's a solid adaptation of Gunslinger and The Wastelands though, minus the huge bear. The 3 main actors are all good, Junkie XLs score is excellent, it is always moving at a swift pace and the action scenes are thrilling.

Yeah, if it interests them.

Elba's accent is changed yet but its the tough guy act that comes our repetitive for me. I agree that Elba is good for this role but he didn't do much justice to the character, there were other factors at play here but its just the general feeling that he could have done more in scenes of death and the finale.

The death of his father was pretty bad. I thought he did well in his physical acting though.I loved how he shot people, so mechinical, never doubting that it was a kill shot and just moving on. He had the look of someone who has been worn down by doing the same thing for countless years.

Well technically you should as this is a continuation as he has the horn this time in the movie.

Not a bad film, but it could have been so much better IMO. It works at best as a basic action film that's a timewaster, but nothing more which is a shame, because I really enjoyed the world this movie was set in, but they never take the time to fully flesh it out. The mythology is the main thing that kept me interested, and I would be very happy to actually see a tv show based on these books. As for the film itself the kid is pretty good and Elba is solid as the hero, but I wish they let him have more of a personality like in the New York scenes. McConaughey as the villain was pretty stale and weak honestly which was disappointing because there were instances where he had some screen presence, but he just ends up being wasted.

The Dark Tower

This isn't so bad. It's actually quite fun. It could have done with being more grandiose and, not necessarily upping the stakes, but stressing the stakes and the rules of the world more, perhaps in a prologue. Idris Elba is cool. McConaughey is pretty good too. I would have loved to see them duke it out Neo-Agent Smith stylee. But it never happens. I liked all of the New York-set scenes. When he's being chased by the asylum workers, then when the Gunslinger goes to New York and fights with Jackie Earle Haley. But the film is all basic. It never feels special or awesome. This happens, then that, then it's over. It's too neat.

B

Ouch, that was painful and bad. Just a disappointing film, completely average in execution and pretty much just not exciting at all. I liked Matthew as the villain, but he wasn't really good either, only Elba showed some resemblance of a good character for me. Some of his gunslinger scenes were cool, other than that the film had nothing going for it. I was glad when it was over, pretty terrible really. Oh, I guess one other highlight was Jake's mom is hot.

D

This was beyond dull and pointless. Whatever makes the book series popular is not present in this generic ass fantasy flick.

F