Posted by Twisters; 2024; written by Joseph Kosinski and Mark L. Smith, from characters created by Michael Crichton; directed by Lee Isaac Chung; Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos; 2h2min; PG-13; Universal
On its release in 1996, Twister (directed by Jan DeBont, written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin) tossed up a storm in Hollywood, opening in first place at $41 million (reminder this is a rather large amount at the time, Independence Day opened two months later to $50 million), ultimately grossing $494 million worldwide, only behind the aforementioned Independence Day that year. Twister became a minor cultural touchstone, garnering great responses from critics as well; it was big dumb fun led by great leads in Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt and filled with wonderful character actors. Did you it was the first wide-release film put on DVD? (and the last on HD-DVD)? Heck, it even had a Universal Studios attraction (taking the spot of Ghostbusters, boo)!
But the story of storm chasers rekindling a broken relationship while trying to prove their new equipment seems pretty one-and-done. Twenty-eight years later, how does Universal bring back the IP to create a new sequel?
Like many late or legacy sequels: remake it, give or take some details! Two pairs of storm-chasing teams battle across Oklahoma as a once-in-a-generation series of tornados wreak havoc over animals, people, vehicles, and small towns.
In many ways, it’s the same, but bigger and louder, with more spectacle and larger beats, along with the changes in weather and technology in the intervening years (Live streams and wind farms!).
Despite many similarities in the previous film, it’s not a rehash. Like Creed or the Force Awakens, the Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, a strange jump from there to here) directed, Mark L. Smith (Overlord) and Joseph Kosinski written (he directed Top Gun Maverick and Tron: Legacy so here’s more legacy) film uses the familiar building blocks to remix many elements to become its own thing.
Like Twister before it, Twisters is a big, dumb, popcorn movie. It has a big heart, big moments, and melodrama up the wazoo. It’s a wonderful throwback to earlier blockbusters. It wears its heart on its sleeve of what it is and leans full bore into providing a straightforward crowd-pleaser.
Our hero character, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Under the Banner of Heaven) is brought back into the storm chasing biz after a traumatic experience five years before. She’s recruited by old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos, In the Heights), asking her to try out his new equipment, triangulating with sensors named Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion (continuing the Wizard of Oz naming of Dorothy from the original film. The fifth version is seen in the opening). In a reversal, this team is buttoned up and fancy, with nebulous connections to corporate sponsorship, akin to the Cary Elwes team of 1996. The other side is the rough-and-rumble group of fun weirdos, led by Tyler (Glen Powell, Top Gun: Maverick bringing Bill Paxton’s wild charisma). They do the groundwork, but lean more into experience over science, using YouTube to create a following of live streams, dangerous stunts, and shilling of merch. Of course, there is instant chemistry between Kate and Tyler, creating the will-they-won’t-they and a better dynamic than the “us vs them, good team vs evil team” of Twister.
The characters of both films keep the films from becoming just showing off special effects, grounding them and giving heart. Between the pair of Kate and Tyler (both able to spout weather-babble with ease) and the supporting characters around them, interacting and coming and going, there is more than enough interpersonal to keep things moving and interesting between the titular tornados.
Those cyclones are what you’re here to see, and Twisters delivers It is one hell of an action-adventure spectacle. After a suitably large opening to start the film with a traumatic twister event, the film measures the mayhem over its two hours, with larger and larger set-pieces, building to a well-earned, audience-wowing rip-roaring cacophony of chaos climax. The whipping whirwinds look and sound fantastic; they feel real and dangerous. Oh man, the SOUND. I saw the film in Dolby; the seat-shaking immersion was some of the best I’ve seen in that room (I foresee a battle between Twisters and Dune come Oscars for technical work).
Long story short (too late!) It’s a big blast. Delivering on its promises in remarkable ways.
It doesn’t all work. A sequence with Maura Tierney (with this and Iron Claw, good to see her again) goes on too long. While it’s important for character and plot development, there is a fluff of repetition. I’m sure this role was meant with Helen Hunt in mind, but it didn’t happen for whatever reason. So, no, Kate is not the daughter of Jo and Bill Harding of Twister. For a long while the fun supporting characters fall away from the story. Much of the dialogue is awkward and on the nose, but to Chang’s credit, he does well in steering the performances around it to lighten the oddity. Finally, some odd choices pepper here and there: calling for a curfew in a destroyed town (where are they going to go?) and our heroes telling other Oklahomans how to save themselves in a tornado. They live in Oklahoma. They know. I get this more for the audience’s ears than it is for the people in the situation, but it still rings odd.
Minor quibbles aside, Twisters is a wild ride. It’s a very enjoyable and simple blockbuster, without treating the audience with “it’s dumb, just go with it” contempt. There’s sincerity in creating a blast of a project to be seen as big and loud as possible in a full crowd of summer moviegoers.
B+
