"Dark Tower" will be officially released in North America on August 4th. It is adapted from the works of famous writer Stephen King. With the addition of Li and other first-line stars, it is not difficult to imagine Sony Pictures' expectations for this blockbuster at the box office on the expensive investment and the trailer showing the grand world view. But will "Dark Tower" really be a magical epic movie comparable to "Lord of the Rings"? For me, who jumped into the pit early and read the seven parts of "The Tower of Darkness", it is really difficult to describe. The book "The Tower of Darkness" is by no means the kind of novel you imagine. 1. Don't take "Dark Tower" as another "Lord of the Rings". As we all know, "Lord of the Rings" is an epic work that has a long history of filming. Why is it called an "epic", whether it is a book or a movie, "Lord of the Rings" shows us a grand worldview, Middle-earth. It has a long time span, confrontation and cooperation between various races, fierce confrontation between righteousness and evil, majestic visual presentations between kingdoms and magnificent and fierce war scenes. Regardless of whether the term epic is defined in this way, the structure of epic in many people's minds is exactly this. After reading Stephen King's "The Dark Tower", not only is it somewhat similar to "Lord of the Rings", I don't think no one can define the type of this book, because the book is really weird. In "The Tower of Darkness", "epic" is just one element looming in the thick seven long novels. Although Stephen King said that he was influenced by "The Lord of the Rings" and Leoné's westerns, except for the first "Gunman" and the last "Dark Tower", the other novels are basically in a state of speechlessness. The state of the book is not to say how ugly the book is, but to say that the types are so mixed that you can hardly imagine it. This will be explained below. In "Lord of the Rings", a Middle-earth world is constructed, with a long-standing kingdom in it, and the races include elves, half-orcs, and dwarves. "The Dark Tower" also has such a structure, but the worldview described by Jin is more obscure. A world on the verge of apocalypse, the Dark Tower is the center of the Middle World, the center of the six beams. ("Six light beams connect twelve entrances. These twelve entrances are the twelve ends of the world." from "Song of Susanna") And these backgrounds have not been completely described in the previous books, so Many people (such as me) are still at a loss after seeing 3 or 4 books, which is very normal. Among these complex worldviews, the most fascinating and at the same time the most confusing is this unknown point called the Dark Tower. This is also one of the reasons why I finally decided to finish reading this series. Jin, as a king of popular fiction , Indeed, the protagonist, Gunman Roland, described his desire for the Dark Tower extremely vividly. For this tower of symbolic desire, he can abandon everything, throw away all obstacles that will encumber him, like a fanatical believer, chasing distant destinations. A protagonist who desperately pursues something will not only make readers curious about the following plot, but also make the plot in the novel inevitably go into darkness. The gunman Roland in the book will be as full of heart as the common villain. Desire and evil. In a commercial movie, how to describe the mysterious and ghostly feeling of this dark tower, and how to tell this story with a very dark core, is also a big problem. To say that "Lord of the Rings" has hideous monsters and the Lord of the Rings that breeds desires, but its ending is bright. The ending of "Dark Tower" is not the same. Moreover, its protagonist Roland is not a hero in the typical sense. He is a man who abandoned his soul to chase the Dark Tower, so he is also a tired, painful and secretive. The anti-hero image of the mind. A digression, although I watched it intermittently for several years, I was disappointed to see the final outcome. (I don’t think it’s a spoiler, because if you’re just looking at Gunman now, it will take you about half a year to finish it even if you watch it very quickly. You might have forgotten what I said. If I am disappointed, I will not regret watching the "Dark Tower" series.) And if the film can persist to the end, I think this end must also be changed, of course, the premise is that the film can really reach the end. 2. "Dark Tower" is a novel with a lot of elements mixed together. Let us first talk about the plot in the second "Three Cards" of the Dark Tower series. Gunman enters a beach where there are many meetings. Cannibal lobster. While avoiding the big lobster, Gunman found a door that could control a modern addict named Eddie who made a lot of jokes on the plane. After evading the customs, the next thing is a gang fire. In this episode, it is easy to find what I want to prove, that is, the type of "Dark Tower" is very mixed. In the above plot, fantasy, crossing, and gangsters have been covered. And this is not all the genres included in "Dark Tower". In "Gunman", this is a standard western novel. In "The Witcher and the Glass Ball", this is a tactful and long romantic drama. In "The Song", you can see a little horror movie taste, of course I can't say too much, otherwise it will be a spoiler. So I am curious, if it is really adapted into a movie, where should the creators rely on it. The plot in the novel It is too difficult to describe. If the order of the novel is followed completely, this movie will be very strange. It will not follow the usage of a Hollywood blockbuster, but is more like a B-rated film that satisfies the evil taste. And if it were changed to a simple blockbuster, (this is how it appeared from the trailer), it would become an even lower "Chronicles of Narnia", which would be far from the author's satisfaction. Let me add one more point, whether it is a novel or a movie, it is destined to be not very friendly to Chinese audiences. Not only is the estrangement between the original parties, but there are too many unfamiliar elements of American pop culture in the book, as well as uncommon terms belonging to the Middle World. More importantly, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television will not allow some scenarios in the book to appear, such as the scenario where Eddie transports drugs to customs, which should have been killed long ago. Of course, what I said are just my thoughts, because these things may have been deleted in the movie. The movie may be a story of a little boy who strayed into another world and then happily ventured with Gunman. Maybe the first film can be shot like this, but if it's like this, I might not even watch it at all. 3. "Dark Tower" is not suitable for being shown in "Gunman" as a movie. There are a few places where it is difficult to shoot as a movie. For example, Roland was chased and killed by the whole town, and he was killed by one shot at a time. People in the whole town of Techa. After reading the book for the second time, I thought about this part myself, and suddenly realized that this part cannot be changed into a movie. If this place behaves too violently, it will look like a game. The slow motion is used, but it lacks perception. Besides, the audience will feel very puzzled, why can this person be so powerful? What's the point of the movie? But some scenes are difficult to shoot, but if they are really good, they will feel very good. This will test the director's personal ability. Gunman and Jack walked in the tunnel, and did not go out after walking for a few days. At this time, the scene was absolutely dark, and the human body was approaching the limit of endurance. At this time, they were very sensitive to everything around, no matter the sound of the river. , The crashing of the railroad tracks under my feet, I also think it's amazing to photograph this feeling. In "Three Cards", all the scenes are on a beach, because Roland constantly has to shuttle back to New York City, and the other 80% of the scenes are in New York City, USA. So if you want to shoot this scene, it's estimated that 30 million won't be needed. The Gunman enters a door to control the thinking of others, and must conceive a good scene. If this is not done well, it is very easy for the audience to play. And the movie version of the trailer still shows endlessly that I have spent a lot of money, but I think about it, at least from the previous few books, there is really no big scene at all. That movie wants to make it into What's it like? When I wrote these words, I suddenly realized that my mother-in-law talked about so many worries that the movie might have been mentioned in one stroke, and it is very possible to say nothing. So even if I am entertaining myself, if it comes true, then...I am really embarrassed. 4. Conventionally, I am worried about the director’s ability. Danish director Nicolai Arsay, as the director of this film, has been a man for a long time. The screenwriter of "The Royal Romance" was nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film. This is also his first film to enter Hollywood. It is difficult for an outside director to keep himself from being swallowed up by Hollywood style, not to mention that he did not have a particularly stylized work before, so I am still very worried that this film will become a peaceful and unforgettable film after watching it. Blockbuster. Although I am not a book fan, I still think "The Dark Tower" should be more distinctive, and even more weird, because this is the characteristic of the Dark Tower, it must completely break away from your expectations, it is also a dare to do The "epic" the author wrote into the book. In my opinion, this movie must have a style to win, and it should require a better director. Fifth, the movie trailer is casual to tell the truth. When I saw the official trailer, my heart was very complicated. Because the content shown in the trailer is exactly the kind of Hollywood blockbuster I just talked about... It looks like a combination of "Gunman" and "The Wasteland", but how can the man in black fight such a big battle with the Gunman? ? ? Well, I believe (self-deception) the whole film will not look like this. Of course, having said so much, I really do not have the desire to discredit the movie, and the concerns expressed about the movie's upcoming release are also a disguised concern for this work. After all, this movie wants to be really successful, but it is really not an easy task. Of course, if the evaluation of the movie far exceeds expectations, then I also welcome everyone to face. As a person who is not a book fan, I don’t have such high requirements for this movie. If it is bad, it is excusable. If it is high, it exceeds expectations, so that you can enjoy the movie peacefully (and no one has read this book, hehehe) ) The following is the impression after a long delay and finally finished reading:
About five minutes after watching the movie, I probably understood what the movie looked like and what impression it was like, as the trailer showed.
At the beginning, there was a child who was squeezed out by others. In his dream, he would often dream of some Balabala in another world. Then, by chance, he entered the other world and saw the temporarily down-and-out hero Roland (Sorry I don’t want to call this person Gunman, this kind of character should have appeared a thousand times in Hollywood.) Roland is committed to defeating the evil leader in black, and the evil group in black is committed to destroying the dark tower, and finally experienced frustration, reconciliation, and kidnapping. , And then Balabala finally defeated the man in black and destroyed the evil forces. The last two happily returned to another world, THE END.
what?
So refer to my short comment: the plot in New York is like goose bumps, a little kid appears on campus or at home some particularly ugly monsters. Then in another world, there is a moneyless version of the song of ice and fire. Apart from a few beautiful mountain views, there is no difference between it and the real world at all. Because the director is simply impossible, and has no ability to lay a basic worldview in ninety minutes. All the plots are all about watching the flowers, like completing tasks, step by step, after reading it, it won't make people ignite a little thought at all.
Yes, this is mediocrity.
And what I fear most is mediocrity. From the beginning, the directors and screenwriters did not want to dig into the core of the story. The Dark Tower is only used as a medium to shoot a commercial film with polished edges and corners, which is full of what you can see. All the things in commercial films, but there is nothing about the dark tower, there is a lot to talk about, all reduced to the background. There is no soul, it is hard to imagine why Sony wanted to make this movie.
Because if you don't want to make any changes from the beginning, you shouldn't change a seven-part song that is also considered a prestigious one!
If you want to make a commercial film, you can just make a commercial film, like "The Doomsday Collapse". From the fifth minute, I know what it will develop into. It's too mediocre. You will think about it after watching the movie. Can't afford to have any details in it. But if you change a book that you know is so difficult, you can hardly not let critics and fantasizing book fans down. You can imagine why you got such a bad score!
When talking about the intensity of the film adaptation, I can say that this film has nothing to do with the book.
The man in black is a big villain dedicated to destroying the dark tower, wrong. In the first book, the man in black is an existence like a dark tower, and it does not appear until the end of the book, and at other times, he is the ubiquitous shadow in Techa Town. He guided the Gunman to escape into the darkness. He induced Roland's desire and desire for the Dark Tower. He was a villain, but he was the bait to satisfy the Gunman's strong desires. He has nothing to do with the destruction of the dark tower, let alone any evil group.
"The man in black fled into the vast desert, and the Gunman followed into the desert."
This is a revelation. We don't know who the man in black is, and we don't know why Roland chased the man in black. This is the beginning of the story, the gunman's past is hidden, and the beginning of all stories. It implies that the story will be a long, painful one. In the movie, it is just a whisper that exists in the flashback of the little boy. It does not constitute the promotion of the story, nor can it bring about the shaping of the atmosphere of the whole story.
Roland said that they lost the battle and his father died under the man in black. He wanted to avenge the man in black, wrong. Let’s get rid of Roland’s dark past. (See "The Witcher and the Glass Ball" for details. By the way, this is the fourth book of the Seven Steps. That is to say, after you finish reading three books, you still don’t know Roland. The complete past, tremble, look at the humans in the Dark Tower!) The relationship between the Gunman and the Man in Black is both an enemy and a reflection of the Gunman’s greed for the Dark Tower. When we look at the Dark Tower, it seems that the Gunman is chasing the man in black, but in fact, it is the Gunman who wants the man in black. Only the man in black can tell him how he can walk to the dark tower and tell him his prophecy. It was the lifelong wish of Gunman Roland, and it was also his life full of misery, fighting with the past and loneliness.
As for revenge for dad, hahahahaha!
The two protagonists in the movie gave performances worthy of their status. Hey, Mr. McConaughey, does have a bad taste, and the black version of the gunman played by Elba is not to me hate, but the gunman should be an ascetic monk. , Lao Hei is still too energetic haha. However, I have to admit that without a two-stroke performance, the box office may even fall by half.
But I’m most distressed by Abilee!! As a supermodel, she doesn’t even count as a vase in the movie. For the whole movie, she just walks around in that little red dress, helping the boss to support the scene. The only place where there is a sense of existence for the little massage girl is that teacher Mai He grabbed her face, leaving behind a lot of black things, hahaha, this section really almost laughed.
Feel free to write a little bit, if you have any thoughts in the future, let's talk about it! This is what I think about the movie The Dark Tower. The disappointment is only a small one. After all, I have foreseen everything after watching the trailer, so let's go back!
View more about The Dark Tower reviews
