Movie Night! 'The Dark Tower' and 'Overlord'

I've got my end of year review later on this morning, an event that's never as bad as I expect it to be but still plays on my nerves like a harp. It'll be fine, I keep telling myself, but anyway... It was pretty clear that I wasn't going to get much reading done last night so I thought I'd take my mind off things with a couple of movies instead. One that I'd seen before, a few times actually, and one that was 'The Dark Tower' ;o) Both 'Overlord' and 'The Dark Tower' seemed like light(ish) fare that would take my mind off things and they did. Let me tell you all about them...

'The Dark Tower' (2017)

The last Gunslinger, Roland, has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in epic battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black...

Right at the end, Roland invites Jake to continue adventuring with him and I really felt sorry for the both of them at this point, knowing that the film was utterly panned and that the chances of a sequel are zero. Which is kind of a shame as it wasn't a particularly bad movie, it just tried to shove a lot into not a lot of running time (well, not for that amount of source material anyway) and the end result is a film that does it's job but doesn't have any time to 'shine' (pun intended, by the way...) The way I handled it was via my own head canon (which you can borrow if you like) which sets this film after the last book; Roland is treading familiar paths but there's enough of a difference to hint at some kind of redemption this time. Well, that's how I saw it anyway ;o) 'The Dark Tower' is a serviceable action film with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey doing some absolutely brilliant work as Roland and the Man in Black respectively. I'm in no hurry to watch it again but it looked good and kept my mind off my End of Year Review, that's all I wanted really.


'Overlord' (2018)

With only hours until D-Day, a team of American paratroopers drop into Nazi-occupied France to carry out a mission that’s crucial to the invasion's success. Tasked with destroying a radio transmitter atop a fortified church, the desperate soldiers join forces with a young French villager to penetrate the walls and take down the tower. But, in a mysterious Nazi lab beneath the church, the outnumbered G.I.s come face-to-face with enemies unlike any the world has ever seen.

So... They could fly a whole load of soldiers into France to destroy a radio transmitter but they couldn't fly a bomber just a little bit further and just drop a bomb on the church? Hmmm... I'm not sure that I buy it but if you want 'American paratroopers vs Nazi zombies' then you've got to let 'Overlord' do it's thing and get you to the good stuff. And there is loads of good stuff if you like your war movies gritty and with a dash of Nazi zombies. Once it gets going (and there is a bit leading up to this point where you might wonder if it will get going, stick with it), 'Overlord' is a heady mix of action and monsters that kept me entertained. The talking corpse head still freaks me out... If you're after plot then 'Overlord' probably isn't the film for you but if you're after an hour and a half(ish) of body horror and mayhem, definitely give it a shot if you haven't already.

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