There are merits with 'The Dark Tower', but it has a lot of problems that cannot be ignored, no matter how hard people try. The complaints however are understandable and valid, contrary to what those vehemently and in some cases condescendingly say those who found problems with the film do know what they're talking about. After seeing it, 'The Dark Tower' to me wasn't as bad as reputed to be and could have been far worse. Also because of the reception the film received, being critically panned but the audience reaction being much more mixed. Hearing that there was going to be a film, part of me was a little excited but there was even more apprehension considering the scale and length of the series on the whole. Made up of eight books, 'The Dark Tower' book series is simply spectacular, with wildly entertaining and imaginative stories, a deft mix of genres, unparalleled attention to detail and conflict and with characters that are far more than standard clichés.

Which is why film/television adaptations are such a mixed bag. Stephen King is notoriously difficult to adapt, some of his work near-unfilmable or at least with parts that are (i.e. One of the laziest and Hollywood productions of all-time. It would be difficult for even the best in the business to adequately bring the story to life through cinema but these clowns didn't even try.

I love the Dark Tower novels and would recommend them to anybody. Idris Elba manages to salvage some artistic integrity from the ruins with a reasonable performance but there is not much one can do with such a godforsaken script.

As for Matthew McConaughey, I've never been much of a fan and this tragic performance confirms my suspicions that he is one of the most one-dimensional and overrated actors in the business. it manages to achieve the double whammy of being completely incomprehensible to non-book readers whilst also being highly insulting to fans of the novels. I'm not sure what was going through the heads of the people involved with this limp mess of a movie. Stephen King's Dark Tower novels may have their flaws but they are nonetheless a highly creative juggernaut that deserved either a fully committed TV adaptation or to be simply left alone.

The Dark Tower for apple instal