Twisters - Movie Review

Critics Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

I can still remember my first experience with the original Twister movie, even though it was now almost 30 years ago 😱. I lived in Michigan but went to see it with my good friend Justin in Florida, I got so sick afterwards I almost threw up in his family’s minivan. Despite the rough start, I’ve loved that film ever since, went through an unhealthy obsession with tornadoes for a while and the poster hung on my wall for years. Naturally I was quite interested to see what the new Twisters would be, yet tapered my expectations for anything in the mainstream “blockbuster” season. Even with the writer/director Lee Isaac Chung of the Best Picture nominated Minari at the helm, Chung had no hand in the writing of this new film, so my skepticism was still hanging over Twisters like a . . . (insert bad weather pun). Like so many of the big studio remakes, sequels and prequels, they mostly follow a cut and paste formula when it comes to the scripts and storylines of new movies, creativity being stifled for the sake of what they perceive to be bankable material. The almighty dollar slowly crushing the art form. Twisters, sadly, proved to be no exception. Lee Isaac Chung did his darnedest to bring humanity to the mass destruction and chaos these storms can inflict and breathe life into this story, but these characters are simply poorly written. The character we get any chance to invest in is Glen Powell, who effectively carries the film through portions. I know as a critic I need to take this film on its own terms and comparing it to it’s predecessor is a grievous error, but they’re trying so hard to ride the nostalgia train for this film, they even dress Daisy-Edgar Jones like Helen Hunt’s character from the OG. In the end I did have a good time with the film, but Twisters just never stood much of a chance at blowing me away like the first film did.

SYNOPSIS - As the film starts off, we get a view of a lush, green field. The tall blades of grass waving in the stiff breeze fill the bottom of our screen and we know that yes, we indeed have entered another Lee Isaac Chung film. After a moment, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), enters the left side of the frame and crossing our screen, walks through the field, camera in hand. The shot pans left so we get a shot from behind her, then we see her face as she raises her camera up and clicks a photo, smiling slyly to herself, the thrill of the storm chase coursing in her veins. As she heads back the shot lingers on the storm and we hear thunder booming and the clouds are backlit by lightning that we cannot see. She makes her way back to a vehicle and crawls into the back hatch of a SUV, bending down to kiss her boyfriend Jeb (Daryl McCormack). Within a few moments she’s told him and the other members of her team including Javi (Anthony Ramos), to get going, there’s a storm coming that needs to be chased. Jeb records a video of Kate giving some exposition about their mission, they’re effectively trying to get in front of a tornado and along with a Dorothy style device from the original film that will release sensors into the funnel, they’re trying to release some barrels of an absorbent material that Kate theorizes might cause it to collapse and stop the moving disaster in it’s tracks. As the group of six friends take off in their ragtag van and suv, Salio El Sol by Don Omar cues up in the background as they head out in pursuit. While it’s a fine enough song choice, this just doesn’t have the same vibes as Dusty’s epic chasing playlist from twister that included Deep Purple’s Child In Time, Eric Clapton’s Motherless Child or the severely underrated Van Halen rock anthem Humans Being.

Without spoiling the adventure, let’s just suffice it to say that just like in the original, there is a tornado, the lack of one would’ve been a M. Night Shyamalan level twist, and you guessed it, not all ends well. In the aftermath, we move forward into the future five years and Kate has become a meteorologist for some outlet in the city. But then like a blast from her past, Javi calls her up and the two old friends, who haven’t spoken in quite some time since the aforementioned incident, reconnect and meet up for drinks. Javi explains that he’s been working for a division of the United States government and he’s gotten access to some new technology. They are panels that if they set them up on three sides of a tornado, like a triangle around it, they can get some new information about things to help them to understand . . . yada yada yada I’m already bored of typing this. Forget how insane the concept of trying to get vehicles in and unload equipment simultaneously on three different sides of a moving tornado would be to coordinate that idea, but we’ll go along with this ridiculous premise for kicks and giggles. Kate initially resists this notion, because for Kate to follow the path of the Hero story arc, she can’t just jump up and say “Yes”, but eventually she folds and joins Navi’s team to make this insanity a reality. As they begin their expedition, they encounter the YouTube, live streaming tornado chaser Tyler, (Glen Powell), who’s signature catchphrase, “If you can feel it, chase it!” is probably the most amusing line of spoken dialogue in the film. Kate is initially put off by the cowboy hat wearing, no guts no glory attitude and crazy antics of Tyler’s character, but it isn’t long before his charm becomes too much for her and the rest of us to resist. As they hurtle their way from tornado to tornado, Kate’s allegiances are tested as both Javi and Tyler show her what kind of men they are and she’s forced to choose between her good friend and her new found love interest in a race to find the ultimate defense against a killer tornado.

I have to give props, and credit most of the films success to the direction of Lee Isaac Chung and the undeniable charisma and charm of Glen Powell. These two combine for probably around six of the ten total points I give the film’s score, the tornadoes and special effects getting the final point. And it’s because of that kind of deep diving critical analysis and assessment, ladies and gentlemen, that they pay me the big bucks. Together this pair breathes enough life into the film and one of the main characters to make it enjoyable, but there’s only so much they can do. This script by Mark Smith is nothing to write home about, pun intended. The original Twister screenplay by Michael Crichton was chock full of funny one liners and amusing pop culture references, but this film seems content to provide standard, run of the mill speech that is not only borderline boring, but serves the characters in no way, shape or form. It is a travesty that I cannot even remember if I laughed at all through this film’s two hour plus runtime. Daisy Edgar-Jones is probably miscast, she’s mostly alright, but they needed someone like Anne Hathaway or even a newcomer like Florence Pugh, to shake up this character and command the screen a bit more when she’s in the frame. Unfortunately, alongside her the rest of the cast besides Powell is flatlining almost every ounce of dialogue that was written, not that they were given much to work with to begin with. Again, not to needlessly compare this film to Twister, but with Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and the great Phillip Seymour Hoffman dropping insanely quotable lines at us throughout, this new film was shoulder shrugging at best in its attempts to follow suit. I feel like I’ve forgiven this film for a lot of my misgivings towards it just to try and be fair and not comparing it too harshly against one of the favorite films from my childhood. If you have no affiliation with the original like I had, you’ll probably find yourself having a decently fun and entertaining enough time watching this family friendly summer film.

SUMMARY - To be clear, despite my critique of it, this film is not terrible, but it’s also not great, in my humble opinion. Then again, the original wasn’t exactly a masterpiece either, but by god was it incredibly fun and charming in a way this one just couldn’t duplicate. If you haven’t yet, give Twisters a whirl, it’s some goofy summer fun at the cinema, but unlike the first hit, this storm isn’t one that audiences will keep chasing for decades to come.