Mild spoilers ahead.
Where have all the good movies gone?
Over the past couple of years, this seems to be the question on every movie-goer’s lips. Most new releases at the box office are either sequels, remakes or the latest in the 34-flick chain of the Marvel superhero franchise. And that’s just some of the films you can still see in a physical theater. Instead, many movies now choose to debut on streaming platforms, in which there is no shortage of options—though most people can probably only name the most popular five or six streaming platforms, in reality there are over 200 worldwide. In any case, finding a good, original movie—regardless of where you watch it—is getting harder every year.
Enter “Twisters,” a so-called standalone sequel to the 1996 hit tornado movie, “Twister.” It’s not quite an antidote to the sequel/remake/reboot problem plaguing the film industry, but it’s a start. The storm-fighting formula and Oklahoma setting are the only holdovers from the ‘90s, as “Twisters” features an entirely new cast, storyline and—arguably—a contemporary edge.
The film opens with a tornado chase gone horribly wrong and main character Kate’s (Daisy Edgar-Jones) two best friends and boyfriend literally swept away into the storm. It’s an unsurprising turn of events—as soon as the group starts planning their post-storm celebratory barbecue, even the most obtuse viewers could guess that there would be no such celebration. As predictable as the sequence is, it still manages to successfully raise the stakes for the movie’s subsequent tornado chases. Now haunted by the deaths of her friends, Kate uproots herself from Oklahoma and keeps her tornado-sensing sixth sense stowed safely away behind her desk at the New York-based National Weather Service office.
But when Kate’s old friend and the only other survivor of that fateful day Javi (Anthony Ramos) shows up, he coaxes her back into the field to help his team test a revolutionary new storm-tracking system. Much to their surprise, however, they are not the only people in the area chasing cyclones. Kate and Javi must outrun not only the twisters themselves, but also YouTube star Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who’s seemingly only there to vlog natural disasters. Unbeknownst to both Kate and Tyler’s teams, they’re going to have to work together if they’re going to keep the prairie safe from the coming influx of storms.
While “Twisters” definitely does not sport the most original nor realistic—Kate’s research hinges on the idea that you can stop a tornado in its tracks by throwing super-absorbent polymers into it—plot, there are many things that “Twisters” does get right. First and foremost, it utilizes its talent correctly. Powell oozes Midwestern charm and honestly just looks like he was born to play a cowboy. British Edgar-Jones’ is appropriately stiff to show the lingering effects of her character’s trauma, and manages to pull off a twangy American accent, too. And behind the camera, director Lee Isaac Chung of Minari fame is certainly no slouch, although I’ll concede that it’s hard to detect if his presence really makes the film any more visually—or otherwise—interesting than any other action movie. For instance, “Twisters” is shot entirely on Kodak 35mm film, but to me looks no different than films recorded digitally.
Apart from its cast and crew, the film’s other elements only serve to amp up its fun factor. The soundtrack features original songs by country artists such as Luke Combs and Miranda Lambert. The effects, both sound and visual, are large-scale and plausibly realistic, effectively creating a feeling of danger. While the tornados themselves are CGI, to create the storm in the foreground Chung needed multiple 10,000-gallon dump tanks, water cannons and two jet engines. “Really what creates drama and tension is when we don’t see [the tornado], and when we’re focusing on its effects,” Chung told film criticism website IndieWire.
Between the talent, the music and the effects, “Twisters” delivers a lighthearted yet grounded flick—a perfect escape from an unbearably hot and politically charged summer. With high stakes and serious moments that never get too serious, this not-quite-sequel hopefully marks the return of fun summer blockbusters, and ushers in maybe not a twister, per se, but at the very least a breath of fresh air into Hollywood.