After months of waiting, the trailer for Stephen King’s magus opus “The Dark Tower” has finally arrived.
“The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, roams an Old West-like landscape where “the world has moved on” in pursuit of the man in black. Also searching for the fabled Dark Tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.”
The lack of any advertising for “The Dark Tower” had begun to concern fans. However, 2 teaser trailers and a full-length trailer have been released in the space of 24 hours. This should help put fan’s at ease with both the state of the movie and some of the casting choices made. In short, the trailer is three minutes of pure awesome!
“The Man in Black fled across the desert”
The trailer opens with action shots over a desolate landscapes. It introduces Idris Elba as Roland Deschain before startling awake a young man in our world. He talks of visions of seeing a tower and a man in black. The action speeds up as Jake walks through a portal into another world. Where he comes face to face with the last gunslinger.
Brilliantly executed without pandering to the audience. We’re very rapidly introduced to the three main characters of the piece. We get confirmation that is a fantasy-driven film and that there will be guns. Lots of guns.
“And the gunslinger followed”
In the scene’s of the other world, the trailer shows us gun fights, monsters and the standard western like towns. This is where it comes into it’s own. With a whole audience ready to experience their first journey to the Dark Tower, the trailer simply teases this new world. It appears that there will be an attack on a small town where one of the best parts happens. Roland shoots a slow mutant even though he can’t it. People might not know who or what a gunslinger is, but the trailer wastes no time in pointing out that he’s a bad ass!
While only 3 minutes long, the trailer only shows the bones of the story, but what it does excel at is showing off some very beloved characters.
Roland Deschain
There was a lot of uproar over the casting of Idris Elba in the role. For fans of the original book series the only casting choice was Clint Eastwood. The trailer should go a long way to appease the fears of the book fans. Idris portrays Roland as a hard, no nonsense character, which he is. The costume design on Roland is fantastic. There’s also lot of focus on his guns which makes sense. He is after all the last gunslinger. Through use of slow motion we get to see his rapid firing skills and near the end of the trailer he recites the gunslingers oath. Which was a very nice touch for anyone who was worried that the movie would be straying far from the source material.
The Man In Black (Matthew McConaughey)
Matthew McConaughey isn’t in the trailer as much as Jake or Roland. His presence in his few scenes is undeniable. This IS the man in black. He appears to be on a mission to destroy the dark tower and has a chilling omen to Roland. In terms of villains the man in black ranks quite highly in Stephen Kings pecking order. The trailer appears to hint that he is the main villain of the piece, so depending on how the film does commercially it will be interesting to see this evolve over the sequels. Will he stay the villain or give way to something else? The marketing for this has hinted that there is another bad guy on the horizon.
Jake Chambers (Tom Foster)
Going for an unknown actor to play Jake was always going to be the best option. As a fan of the book series, for me this is Jake. He appears from the trailer at least, to be the character from the novels. It’s through Jake that we get one of the only pieces of humor in the trailer which was appreciated after all the action. There is also a really good shot of him learning to shoot.
“All Things Serve The Beam”
The concern for a lot of fans has been trying to push the lore of 8 books into a single movie. Although only touched on through dialogue and a couple of scenes, it appears that the lore of the beams and the Dark Tower itself will be honored. It was great to see the tower in a few flashing scenes. For someone who’s read the series since he was 13, I’m not ashamed to say that it was emotional. It was exactly what you would expect it to be and as the trailer show’s – the threat to the tower is real. The Man In Black must be stopped. Roland and Jake are the only two who can do it.
There have been complaints dogging this movie since it was announced. There’s a lot of concern from fan’s who have experienced the journey to the tower in the novel series. Despite Stephen King himself confirming that this is NOT an adaptation of his books. Rather it is a continuation of the story. Fans have been concerned about how the final product will be.
Now that the trailer has finally been released this should help reduce the concern. It’s got everything that you need – slow mutants, thinny’s, The Beams, The Dark Tower and even the gunslinger Oath. This is finally the chance to enhance the Stephen King universe, to tie it all together and to show why King is the master of horror. As eagle eye’s viewers might have noticed a familiar hotel appearing in a photography in our world. If the Overlook Hotel can appear in this movie who know’s what Sony is planning.
This may not be the movie fan’s wanted, but Ka is a wheel and this is how it’s turned. It’s clear from the trailer that everyone involved knows how precious everyone is about the world of Roland and his Ka-Tet. Watching the trailer, it looks like “The Dark Tower” is in the hands of men who know the faces of their fathers.
