The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

Author(s): James S.
Location: Canada

"The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three"

Directed by David Lynch
Written by David Lynch
Based on the Novel by Stephen King

Main Cast

Viggo Mortenson as Roland; The Gunslinger
Tobin Bell as The Man in Black
Alexander Michaeletos as The Boy
Collin Farrel as Eddie Dean
Tracie Thoms as Susanna Mia
Anthony Hopkins as The Elder

Tagline: "Forever Bound"

Synopsis: The Gunslinger wakes up on a horrid beach, with Lobstrosoties coming toward him. His weapons are out of ammo so the only way her can fight them off is with his hands. Ten minutes, and two fingers later, The Gunslinger walks away from the dead corpses that now scatter the beach.

A short journey brings him to an odd discovery. Three doors stand in the middle of the beach. Each stands perfectly atop of the sand. He stares at them for a long while before walking up to one and being sucked into a twisted vortex.

New York of 1981 brims as The Gunslinger finds himself in time square. His lost journey through Manhattan takes him to a high rise building and a shoot out between drug dealers. An addict, Eddie Dean, lies cowering naked in the corner of the room. The Gunslinger steals away to a locker and takes some weapons. Blood and bullets spatter the walls and eventually leaves The Gunslinger and Eddie Dean fleeing the building. Soon they back at the beach but another door awaits.

New York of 1968 surges with the energy of civil rights. Susanna Mia is a wheelchair bound activist lost in the crowd. Eddie and the Gunslinger spot and the Gunslinger runs for her. He doesn't know why he's doing it. All he knows is that he must. But he's being watched from somewhere up above. By a man dressed in black.

What the Press would say:

"The Drawing of the Three" picks up only hours after "The Gunslinger" but is an extremely different movie. This is no longer a dark, solitary journey through desert wastelands, but a twisty-turny time traveling tale that brings The Gunslinger to New York at two different points of the 20th century. He isn't your typical fish out of water though. He spends no time trying to get to know his new surroundings. Instead, he jumps right into the fray and a gunfight with lethal 1980's cocaine dealers. This fight is to unbelievably violent extremes, leaving many of the drug dealers in states that barely resemble human. The Gunslinger's complete lack of humanity in these scenes is more disturbing than anything else in the film.

His next entrance into the 20th century in in the late 1960's at a civil rights march. Here we meet Susanna Mia, a paraplegic, schizophrenic civil rights activist. Her only problem is that she has another personality, that just happens to be a racist white woman. Tracie Thoms delivers the best performance in the film as Susanna Mia. Her uninhibited switching between personalities would be comical in most movies, especially with to personalities that are so very different, but Lynch doesn't let it get out of control and the audience feels more uncomfortable and scared when the switches take place. Her character is very rarely funny, and never funny when switching between Susanna and Mia.

Also joining the cast, as drug addict Eddie Dean, is Collin Farrel. He gives one of the best performance of his career as the withdrawals set in and he is left as a naked, cowering, mess on the floor during the 1980's shoot out. Dean is an extremely weak person, a big departure for Farrel, who is used to playing cops and Alexander The Great.

David Lynch once again takes us to a horrifying fantasy world that is growing in scope all the time. The Man in Black is still alive as we now know, and is now chasing after his one time pursuer. It isn't clear if the Gunslinger is traveling through time or dimensions, but how much in this movie really is clear? The relationship between The Gunslinger and the Man in Black is still a question mark, Susanna Mia and Eddie Dean are now trapped in The Gunslinger's world/time, and one door still remains to be opened. Very few questions are answered in the end but one huge questions rears it's head in the final moments of the movie. This question takes the form of a skull-faced locomotive barreling through the desert.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Best Picture
Best Director - David Lynch
Best adapted Screenplay - David Lynch
Best Supporting Actress - Tracie Thoms

...They Are Now Forever Bound...
...As They Enter The Waste Lands...