I wasn't sure what to expect, not having read Stephen King's The Dark Tower. Based on the trailers I imagined a gunslinging super hero flick, and based on it being a Stephen King novel perhaps a bit of horror/sci-fi in the mix. And that is exactly what was delivered.
Roland Deschain (Idris Elba) was most certainly a gunslinging super hero, though he couldn't fight for anything! But when he worked those guns, O MY!! When the shots honed in on the perfect aim of the bullet as it travelled to its destination, the audience had verbal responses of awe and excitement! Elba was perfect for this complex role, complex much like his character Luther. On the one hand he has given up on his life purpose as a gunslinger, while also still being quite confident in his abilities as a gunslinger.
Roland finds his way back to his purpose with the help of Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor), the young man who believes and knows his visions are more than nightmares or mental issues. He'll soon discover his visions are part of an even greater power of his, which comes into play towards the end of the film. Taylor was very convincing in his role as Jake, encompassing a range of emotions from fear to loss to defiant and powerful.
Then there's the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), the villain who's so evil it's good! McConaughey was the perfect amount of evil, with the perfect sprinkle of comedy (just enough to get a quick laugh out of the audience without diminishing his evil factor). It was all in his tone and demeanor. In fact, in my opinion the hint of McConaughey's Texan accent and Elba's British accent really added to their characters in some ways. The casting was just dead on for the film!
Now if you're going for the gunslinging action, let me forewarn you, the beginning may be a bit slow for you. There is quite a bit of setup before the real action begins, but if you're here for the story you won't mind it and will likely appreciate it. It's not that it's slow, in fact it is not. It just doesn't have as much action as later in the film.
I was slightly thrown off by what seemed like 1980's special effects in some of the earlier scenes, however this may have been intentional. There was mention of the technology being older during one of the scenes in a village, and there was also this almost retro Stranger Things vibe to the early on usage of the portals and encounters with larger than life demons/creatures. While on the other hand, there were amazing effects used for Roland's gunslinging, and also a cool memory scene where the Man in Black has Jake's mom reveal memories of Jake drawing out his visions of Roland and the Man in Black.
Overall, the film was very enjoyable! Though I must admit the final showdown felt like it should have been a bit more challenging, in the sense that it should have required a more complex resolution. So I felt that was a bit of a let down, with the caveat that I haven't read the novel. So maybe that's how it's written, but that's never stopped Hollywood from changing up a story on the screen before. Either way, I say it's still worthwhile to check out!
7.5/10