Twisters review

Twisters is a film that will be hard for fans of the 1996 original to get sucked into. Newcomers to the dangerous swirling funnels will likely find this competently made film entertaining enough though it’s missing a spark to be truly memorable.

Sure, if you’re just watching for the spectacle Twisters mostly delivers. There are some extended chatty sequences that needlessly stretch the film to a two-hour run time, but they’re balanced nicely by the massive carnage, destruction and occasional whisked away bodies getting escorted into the vortex.

Director Lee Isaac Chung (The Mandalorian) stages a riveting opening sequence. Storm chaser student Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is with her friends field-testing a tornado tamer compound. The experiment doesn’t work and predictably, tragedy unfolds. Despite the short character development on the fly, Chung makes this opening act impactful by showing the worst-case scenario of storm chasing.

Fast forward five years and Kate is now working a desk job where she can safely predict storm patterns with no danger to herself or others. One of her old gang, Javi (Anthony Ramos, Hamilton), returns with a proposition. Javi’s partnered with a company that has the funding and technology where he can make a difference and save lives where menacing tornados threaten to touch down.

Still traumatized by her last storm chasing incident, Kate is rattled at having all eyes on her. Javi’s business partner, Scott, (David Corenswet) isn’t thrilled with the idea of Kate acting as a special consultant even if it’s just for a week.

None of the crew are excited with the arrival of Tyler (Glen Powell, Hit Man), a flashy storm chaser known for his obnoxious livestreams, catchphrases and T-shirts with his face on them.

Tyler’s also got a far less polished crew than Javi including Boone (Brandon Perea), Lily (Sasha Lane), Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe) and Dani (Katy O’Brian). Joining them is Ben (Harry Hadden-Paton), a reporter doing a story on the lifestyles of storm chasers.

Kate is immediately put off by Tyler’s cocky attitude. Tyler acts like Kate is the first woman he’s seen in months. Screenwriter Mark L. Smith clearly wants to establish a Han Solo/Princess Leia vibe with Kate and Tyler. It’s unnecessary for Twisters as it’s the kind of film that won’t crumble without a romantic subplot.

Smith zips by two more interesting subplots of a realtor buying up tornado-devastated property in a massive land grab scheme and the relief efforts for tornado survivors. A stronger focus on those could have provided that extra heart Twisters was missing.

Yet, Smith insists on making something that doesn’t need to be a thing, a thing complete with neutering Tyler’s reckless, abrasive edge. See also: all the reasons he’s Twisters’ most engaging character. Worse, for all of the wasted screen time, Smith leaves the payoff hanging. Maybe for Twisters 2 or would that be Twisters Squared?

Edgar-Jones tries to disguise her Irish accent with something approximating a Southern twang, but it’s noticeably inconsistent. Powell is enjoying his busy 2024 leading man spotlight delivering another performance. Until Tyler becomes a watered-down shell of himself in the final act, Powell is the driving force of Twisters.

Ramos is the third lead and continues to show a solid versatility in a number of roles. The rest of the cast, particularly Corenswet, Lane and Perea, make their characters stand out despite limited screentime.

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Audiences who aren’t enamored with the melodic tones of artists like Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert probably aren’t going to be downloading the soundtrack.

Of course, the real draw of Twisters are the action sequences. And they’re absolutely worth sitting through the film’s slower beats.

Tornadoes don’t play by any rules so the team is constantly scrambling going into the eye of the storm and then somewhat ironically stunned when they can’t control what happens next. The CGI effects are very well done managing to avoid looking overly phony and concocted via digital wizardry.

Twisters is a fun ride when the winds blow in, but it needed a different storytelling approach than the too basic one provided.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. 

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