The Dark Tower

Granted, I have not read the books from Stephen King, but I am familiar with them as I used to work in a bookstore. I was looking forward to watching the adaptation of the novels here, and was expecting quite the unique experience.

"The Dark Tower" had a good story, albeit somewhat shallow in comparison to what I have heard about the novels from friends who read them.

They had a good cast, whom did indeed put on great acting performances in bringing out their characters on the screen.

One of the major things that kept "The Dark Tower" afloat for me was some really nice CGI and special effects throughout the entire movie.

Wonderful connection to "IT" (Pennywise) and good tie-in with The Shine ability from "The Shining", if you are familiar with those from other works of Stephen King.

All in all, then "The Dark Tower" was a tad above mediocre end result that could have been so much more. It just felt shallow and superficial, and it was definitely like they were in a rush to get through it. Which was a real shame, because it was painstakingly obvious throughout the entire movie, and it definitely served as an anchor holding it back.

I did NOT read the books; I had not even heard of this movie; it's a random DVR grab from cable. I enjoyed it, despite some minor flaws.

PROS: We have some great casting -- Mathew McConaughey is creepy and effective as The Man in Black and Idris Elba is perfect as the slightly washed-up Gunslinger (capital G as there is a knightly connotation). The pacing is pleasantly fast; the director expects the audience to piece together some of the background story instead of having it entirely spoon-fed to them. I liked this approach; it exercised my brain a bit.

CONS: The underlying plot structure is quite standard, and this makes some developments rather predictable. Also, it's rather convenient that everyone in the universe speaks English.

IN SUM: It's fun and a bit different. I like the mixing of tech from different worlds. I give this seven (7) stars for escapist entertainment.

It a great 90 min Sony Pictures action movie. Some alternate dimension stuff, bad guy with sweet powers and lots of pew pew. Elba and McConaughey are awesome. Fun times.

Imagine someone told all of Game of Thrones in one movie that was just an hour and a half, then cut out 99% of the story. :(

As someone who hasn't read the Stephen King books that the movie is based on I have a different perspective than other reviewers. If you're comparing a movie to a book then it's pretty rare that you will not be disappointed but if you have nothing to compare it to then you look at it as a stand alone piece of work and this is not too bad. It's pretty much a good vs evil story. Mathew McCoughanhey is very evil and Idris Elba is very good. The story is good and the acting is excellent. Okay nobody will win an Oscar for this but on the other hand you don't start watching this and think what the hell am I wasting my time on this for. Not a bad movie as long as you haven't read the books apparently.