Film Review: The Dark Tower


I liked it.

I have to be honest, I wasn't expecting to. The reviews and word of mouth for the film adaption of Stephen King's The Dark Tower were not just bad, they were awful. But King' Dark Tower series is one of my favorite reads of all time - I was going to see it for myself.

I was feeling rather under the weather on Saturday, still getting over some nasty head congestion, but with such awful reviews I was a bit concerned the film would be in for a very brief engagement. My 12-year old, Jasmine, was very interested in seeing it. She's just about finished reading The Gunslinger. Of my two daughters, she's the geeky one, the one into comics, the one who has already read some Jack Williamson. 

Much to my surprise, I really liked it. Idris Elba made for a great Roland and Matthew McConaughey was a villainous delight as Walter/The Man in Black. It was critical to get someone good for Jake Chambers and Tom Taylor did a fine job.

These were not quite the characters we know from the novels and the storyline is not quite the same. It felt like another level of the Tower. Not one far from the one encountered in the novels, but definitely different. This Roland is one who has given up on saving the Tower, much less on climbing it. He wants revenge on Walter before darkness falls. The film took elements from all of the books. Like in the final book, telepaths are being used to help bring the Tower down - here they are children, gifted with "the shining" (yes, a reference to the King novel). Like in the novel The Wastelands, it features a Jake dreaming of Roland and the Tower - and questioning his own sanity. Everyone else thinks he's crazy. 

The running time of little more than 90 minutes greatly surprised me. However, it actually didn't seem rushed, something I was certain it would. It definitely felt tight. I know there's the hope of having a television series as well, but it didn't feel like a film whose purpose was to launch other projects (by way of comparison, Amazing Spider-Man 2 seemed to dedicate far too much time to possible sequels). The film told its story. Jake shines brightly. Walter wants him as the final telepath to bring the tower down. And Roland must find something to live for beyond vengeance.

I also get why people might not care for it. It definitely wasn't a retelling of the novels. Truthfully, my own preference would have been to see the series adapted slowly, building up. I'd love to see a straight-up adaptation of The Gunslinger, one of my favorite novels. So while it's not the way I would have gone, it is a way I enjoyed. For what it's worth, Jasmine, who is making her first trip through the novels, enjoyed it as well. She debating whether to read The Drawing of the Three next or go for something a little different. But she definitely wants to read all of the novels. It's neat to share with her my 1980s copy of The Drawing of the Three...

For what it's worth, there were gazillions of Easter eggs for readers of the novels - the Dixie Pig, the Tet Corporation, the names of some minor characters, many plot elements, etc. While the creators didn't go for a straight adaptation, they definitely knew the source material. 

I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. 
I aim with my eye. 
I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. 
I shoot with my mind. 
I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jules Verne Translations That Don't Stink

Image
Shortly after I graduated from college R. Talsorian published their fantasy steampunk RPG,  Castle Falkenstein. Having missed out on Space: 1889  when it first came out this was my first steampunk RPG, though I had been exposed to the genre by Gibson and Sterling's novel The Difference Engine (a novel which, though I though I found the setting compelling, I did not particularly care for - must reread some day). Jules Verne was one of the authors in the inspirational reading section of Castle Falkenstein.  Heck, the game also made him into France's scientific advisor, having him responsible for their massive Verne Cannons  which formed a sort of nuclear deterrent.  With that in mind, one Sunday afternoon I was at a Barnes & Noble bookstore my new girlfriend (now my wife of nearly 16 years!).  On a whim I decided to pick up a Jules Verne novel. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . That night I started reading it, never having read any of his works before but having vagu
Keep reading

Stepping Away and a New Beginning

Image
After maintaining this blog for nearly seven years (an eternity in internet time), I've decided to step away from it. When I first began I wasn't 100% certain what it would be about. For a while I thought it would be a blog related to OSR type RPGs but I found my own tastes not firmly rooted there. Looking at the history of the blog, I see a lot of Call of Cthulhu which is hardly surprising. However, some lack of consistency definitely made it tough for me find a defined niche and over the past few months I've been giving some thought to starting a new, more narrowly focused blog. The imminent end of Google+ played a part in these thoughts, with much of my traffic coming from that site. I write because I enjoy writing, but I do enjoy growing an audience. My plan to start a narrowly-focused blog took a turn when I had the opportunity to join the  Rolling Boxcars  blog. Talking with the contributors (one of whom I game with on Discord already) and going through thei
Keep reading

RPG Review: Fate Accelerated

Image
Fate is a difficult system for me to grok. I like it conceptually, but I have a difficult time when it comes to running it.  Fate is what's considered a narrative game. Instead of modeling a simulation of the reality of the RPG setting, it is designed at supporting a story. I've seen arguments as to whether or not this makes it a "real" RPG. I think the whole debate is a bit silly, dealing with issues of "bad wrong fun". Truthfully the challenges I have with it are largely a function of me being a grizzled gaming grognard, gaming since the early 1980's. To paraphrase Yoda, I must unlearn what I have learned. I've a hunch that I'd actually have an easier time grokking Fate were I to know less.  Overview With that prelude behind us, let's take a look at the Fate Accelerated game. It is a variant of the Fate Core game. Fate Core looks a lot like what one would expect from an RPG book - pretty thick, lots of skills, stunts, etc. F
Keep reading

Using the Force in D6 Star Wars

Image
Defending yourself with just 1D in Sense is not easy, as Luke discovers when training with a remote. My previous post discussed the proto-D6 System as found in the Ghostbusters RPG. For those unfamiliar with the D6 System and the way it does the Force (or for a brief review) the essentials are: You roll a bunch of six sided dice against a target number, typically ranging from 5-ish (easy) to 20 or even higher. Your rating is listed as something like 2D+2 which means roll 2d6+2. By default, most normal/non-heroic people have 2D in most stats.  Starting heroes will might have their best skill be at 5D or a touch higher. You can take as many actions as you want in a round. However, taking two actions in a round reduces all dice codes by 1D, taking three reduces all by 2D, etc. Starting with Force skills will lower a characters starting attributes. Unlike most skills they start off at 1D. There are three Force skills - control, sense, and alter. Control lets you control t
Keep reading

Developing Boston for 1920s Call of Cthulhu

Image
While Chaosium has produced sourcebooks for many locations in Lovecraft Country (Kingsport, Arkham, and Innsmouth) as well as non-fictional cities of the 1920s (such as New York City and New Orleans), the nearby city of Boston, while being featured in many adventures, has never received its own full sourcebook. The most common era for my Call of Cthulhu  games has been in the 1920s - some campaigns have been in New York City while others have been in Lovecraft country. For those in Lovecraft Country, many adventures have been in nearby Boston. Over the years I've slowly been building up some expertise in the area and I thought it might be of interest to others gaming in the same setting - whether with Mythos horrors or a purely mundane game. First, let us investigate those official sources. While Boston has found its way into many adventures, I can think of two sources where it has been given a fair amount of detail. First, The Unspeakable Oath  double issue 16/17 has a ref
Keep reading