There is always a question in my mind when I go see a movie based off of a book. That questions shifts slightly if I’ve read the books.

I must honestly admit that I have not seen a lot of movie-from-a-book titles be as successful as I wanted them to be. The Dark Tower, however, is one that I have not read. Yes, you may begin sending me your hate mail for not having read it before. I know I should be chastised and told how horrible my life is without having read the books.

I will admit one thing for this movie, if nothing else, it has sparked me to really want to read the series now. The world renowned author Stephen King’s masterpiece series finally gets a big screen adaptation, but that question still lingers. “Does it do the books justice?” if I have read the books or “Does it make me want to read the books?” if I haven’t.

We’ve all heard the tired phrase from other films, “It’s not as good as the book.” Honestly, I doubt any two-hour movie ever completely encapsulates the feeling fans get from reading through a book or series. It’s so incredibly hard to translate that into a film. Those of you who read my review on “The Shack” know that we have had this conversation before.

However, it really arises here. Those I’ve spoke to who have read the books were largely disappointed with the film. Flipside, those who haven’t read the books really enjoyed the movie to an extent.

We join Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) late after he has lost a dear family member, dealing with emotional turmoil and having visions of doom. Naturally, all the ‘normal’ adults do the absolutely wrong thing and seek psychiatric help for the issue. What kind of fantasy story would it be without the lone hero standing against the disbelief of the world?

Still, Jake begins trying to find out what the meaning of his visions are, and winds up kicking off his grand adventure in the process. He joins up with Gunslinger Roland (Idirs Elba) to fight the man in his visions, the Man in Black. It all sounds great as Jake just happens to find the last of a great, powerful, and slightly mystical group called the Gunslingers. Okay, okay. yes, you can definitely see a lot of inspirations that King had for his series in the plot of the film, things like the Dark Tower itself strangely missing a flaming eye at the top or the idea that Walter, aka the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey) has a super laser that destroys planets, I mean a tower… just a thought.

Push past that and I’m sure you wind up having a great story in a wonderfully created universe, or so I am told by fans, but you really don’t see it on screen. It all happens a little too fast to fully explore this world and its machinations. Walter, honestly, why destroy the one thing keeping out all the uncontrollable bad monsters that would just a soon kill you, too? Now, I hear the screams of all you fans yelling the answer at your computer, but, seriously, several things get overlooked in the films haste to get the great action scenes and fantasy-style-physics-bending-fights that play so well here.

Major kudos to Elba and McConaughey as they bring real star power to the roles and add a certain gravitas to their characters. I almost followed his commands and McConaughey’s Walter uses sorcery to lithely spew words that are automatically obeyed, like walking to a screaming woman and just whispering “be quiet” and she suddenly can’t make noise. You sir, are more snake-like that Voldemort himself as you slither across the screen.

On the other hand, Elba draws me in as this paragon of honor and nobility who has lost his light. He shines as a beacon of humanity itself, so desperate for redemption, but believing it constantly beyond his strength. The man exudes the fatherly feel for Jake and Elba expertly portrays the battle inside him alongside his battle against Walter.

The movie has so much going for it, that it hurts all the more for its shortcomings. It stalls in development, creating an almost too easy story line that lacks complexity or depth. While explaining an expansive universe full of parallel Earths, it only shows you two. I barely learn anything about the Gunslingers other than their chant and a strange, convenient, rule that you can’t disobey a gunslinger in one point of the movie.

Maybe I am jaded by the hype the movie received. Maybe it was built up too much as people went nuts when they heard it was happening. Sure, there were lots of rumors and gossip about bad test audiences, trouble with shoots, and issues with editing, but people still had me far more excited about the potential of the film than what you actually receive.

That said, I’d still tell you to go see the movie, Elba and McConaughey make up a lot of slack, and the premise is there for an excellent film, even if it was weak on the execution.