Title: Twisters
Describe This Movie In One Twister Quote:
BILL: He’s in it for the money, not the science.
Brief Plot Synopsis: There’s a storm a’ comin’.
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3.5 Dorothy Gales out of 5.
Tagline: “Chase. Ride. Survive.”
Better Tagline: “No flying cows in this one, sorry.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: Five years after the tragic death of three of her friends during a tornado chasing experiment in Oklahoma, Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) has traded her instincts for tracking twisters for a desk job for NOAA in New York. But when Javi (Anthony Ramos), the only other survivor, asks her to lend her talents to his new storm chasing endeavor, she relents. Complicating matters is Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a rival storm chaser with a, let’s call it “unorthodox” style.
“Critical” Analysis: The original Twister came out 28 years ago (RIP Bill Paxton and PSH). The Jan de Bont blockbuster was a surprise hit, with groundbreaking effects that understandably don’t hold up and Helen Hunt’s character — who embarked on an Ahab-like obsession with tornadoes after one killed her dad — mocking Paxton’s for dating a therapist.
Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), is less a so-called “standalone” sequel to that 1996 hollerfest than a remake with fewer character actors. You’ve still got two rival chase teams, two competing leaders with barely muffled romantic attraction, and largely ridiculous weather science.
The name of the movie also implies multiple tornadoes, but I’m not sure there are more of them here than in the original (full disclosure: I didn’t count). And anyway, are these “twisters” the result of a mutant superstorm? Converging weather systems? A giant, resurrected Chubby Checker?
It’s a classical reference, people.
Powell and Edgar-Jones have decent chemistry, though it’s possible Powell could have chemistry with a cardboard cutout of Jessica Alba. Kate’s ability to intuit what direction any given tornado will take is only slightly less implausible than the fact that almost every twister of interest in the movie is conveniently located next to a road (see also: Knightboat).
One thing you won’t hear about the movie’s outbreak of tornadoes is any mention of climate change. The closest Twisters gets to commentary on our warming planet is Kate’s mom (Maura Tierney) remarking how much more frequent tornadoes and floods have become. More on that later.
And there’s so much regional hilarity. Oklahomans (Javi’s team) calling Arkansans “hillbillies.” Tyler’s team deigning to tell Oklahomans how to shelter from a tornado.
Edgar-Jone’s character is basically a Tornado Psychic, which is still more entertaining that Helen Hunt’s Tornado Quint. And while it may be heretical to bring up, Twisters is arguably just as much a silly popcorn movies as its predecessor. It’s also damned entertaining, more so than the original. The effects are superior, but of course, and the soundtrack is admirably red dirt-based. Could’ve used more Turnpike Troubadours.
But Chung can’t state the obvious: our planet is on fire, and everything from hurricanes to wildfires to tornadic outbreaks are getting worse. That’s why Twisters ends with a facile suggestion that new technology can somehow mitigate these disasters.
Twisters is in theaters today.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
