Twisters (2024)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, July 18

PG-13 Running Time: 117 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

It’s been a good long while since a massive disaster epic hit summer movie season. The line for Twisters starts just over there.
Glen Powell’s charm and charisma complements co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones’ more serious performance and Twisters strives to find a balance of humor, romance, action and thrilling effects-laden intensity.
Never boring, though the film peaks with a fantastic opening 15-20 minute sequence.

NO

While never boring, the film retains an emptiness. At times, the film is simply saying words and doing things until the next tornado sequence or action set piece can arrive.
In the moment, and much like 1996’s Twister, the film is entertaining. As soon as the movie ends, the whole endeavor is rather instantly forgettable.
Avoids any discussion of climate change or environmental uncertainty, which is somewhat cowardly and clearly avoids the only explanation for why the poor state of Oklahoma routinely gets decimated in these Twister movies.

OUR REVIEW

In 1996, Twister was unleashed on moviegoing audiences and became the second-biggest grossing hit of the year behind Independence Day. Earning two Oscar nominations for the film’s stellar sound and visual effects work, the film’s story of a group of storm chasers attempting to defeat an unprecedented tornado-slash-weather event, while also navigating a complicated love story among its two leads, was wildly popular with audiences. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton may have been at their box office peak around this time, but really, when it comes down to it, we just love our disaster movies.

Director Jan de Bont, who had made Speed prior to Twister, did not deliver a perfect movie by any stretch. But when you add in his skill , the talent of Hunt and Paxton, Steven Spielberg as producer and groundbreaking effects work by Industrial Light and Magic, with some stunning practical effects work woven into the final product, you have the makings for (ahem) the perfect storm at the multiplex.

Interestingly though, it seems few people talk about Twister to this day. Maybe it’s occasionally airing on cable from time to time, but I never see it listed. In fact, settling in to watch 2024’s standalone sequel, Twisters, I realize that I had not really watched the 1996 predecessor since, like, 1997. For a movie that made people run to the movie theaters in huge droves, Twister seems to be somewhat forgotten in the pantheon of big blockbuster hit movies from days gone by.

Now in 2024, arriving in a world so different and removed from how we lived back in 1996, Twisters arrives in theaters and hopes to catch lightning in a bottle once again. Audiences will turn out for sure - the movie is pure summertime escapism. But, will they be satisfied with the result?

Much like Twister in 1996, 2024’s Twisters is entertaining enough. Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), this modern-day disaster film has plenty of talent in its ensemble cast including everyone’s favorite actor right now, Glen Powell (Hit Man, Anyone but You). Powell joins Daisy Edgar-Jones (Fresh) and Anthony Ramos (In the Heights), bringing all the charm and rizz he can muster, while Edgar-Jones offers the scientific seriousness we need for dramatic heft and Ramos shares an entrepreneurial mind when it comes to the business of storm chasing.

Things start well. Edgar-Jones plays Kate, leading a motley crew of young college daredevils who love chasing storms. While everyone relishes in the adrenaline of the chase, Kate has motives to spin her experiences off into something greater. However a life-changing situation, which produces a fantastic opening 15-20 minutes of the film, leaves Kate questioning those pursuits. So much so in fact, when we cut to the “five years later” title card, she has replaced her tank top and ponytail with a business suit and embedded serious demeanor. She has left behind her native Oklahoma for the hustle and bustle of New York City.

Ramos, playing Javi, tracks her down all these years later and shares that, after a stint in the military, he has launched a business analyzing the data that can be gathered from studying tornadoes. Seeking to find a way to develop a groundbreaking tracking system, he convinces Kate to return home for a week to work with him on his idea and concept.

Where Twister had best-selling novelist Michael Crichton as a co-writer, the 2024 sequel has a screenplay by Mark L. Smith (Midnight Sky) which never fully connects us to the stakes at play. While Edgar-Jones and Ramos are good together, Powell’s arrival as Tyler provides comic relief and marquee appeal. Tyler is a YouTube superstar, and has cultivated an online presence with his ragtag group of stormchasing daredevils to millions of followers. Tyler represents everything antithetical to Kate and Javi’s interests. But because this is Glen Powell we are talking about, Kate naturally becomes intrigued by Tyler and Javi is left to go crunch some numbers.

Chung has said that Twisters fails to address climate change as part of its narrative because films should never preach to an audience, adding “that’s certainly not what I think cinema should be about.” That’s an interesting take for someone making a film about a weather event that likely only is occurring because of environmental imbalance and instability. Thus, for anyone worried that Twisters will get bogged down with science and fact and knowledge about tornadoes and why they happen, or even provide some meaningful explanation of how the poor state of Oklahoma can even still function with all these massive destructive tornadoes happening in the “Twister-verse,” I guess you need not worry.

Just sit back and watch the destruction!

On a basic, surface level, Twisters works well enough. At just under two hours, the movie seldom seems boring, even though it definitely peaks in the opening sequence. The visual effects are adequate, though not nearly as impressive to their time period as Jan de Bont’s groundbreaking blending of practical effects and CGI trickery was back in 1996.

Ultimately, for these 117 minutes, Twisters gives viewers a temporary escape, removed from the realities of the real world climate challenges we are facing. Chung and his crew allow you to become swept away in swirling action sequences and meandering, yet often amusing storytelling.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, David Corenswet, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O’Brien, David Born, Paul Scheer

Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Written by: Mark L. Smith (screenplay), Joseph Kosinski (story)
Based on characters created for the film “Twister” by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin
Release Date: July 19, 2024
Universal Pictures

It’s been a good long while since a massive disaster epic hit summer movie season. The line for Twisters starts just over there.

Glen Powell’s charm and charisma complements co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones’ more serious performance and Twisters strives to find a balance of humor, romance, action and thrilling effects-laden intensity.

Never boring, though the film peaks with a fantastic opening 15-20 minute sequence.

While never boring, the film retains an emptiness. At times, the film is simply saying words and doing things until the next tornado sequence or action set piece can arrive.

In the moment, and much like 1996’s Twister, the film is entertaining. As soon as the movie ends, the whole endeavor is rather instantly forgettable.

Avoids any discussion of climate change or environmental uncertainty, which is somewhat cowardly and clearly avoids the only explanation for why the poor state of Oklahoma routinely gets decimated in these Twister movies.