At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Twisters “2024”

MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Disaster/Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, David Corenswet, Tunde Adebimpe, Katy O’Brian, Paul Scheer, James Paxton/Runtime: 122 minutes

If there was ever a cinematic phenomenon that could claim to consistently cause a tingle or 10 of dread to go down my spine as both a movie lover and reviewer of some skill and talent, it would have to be whenever a sequel to a movie that was loved by either the public, reviewing community, or (and perhaps most optimistically) both of those respective parties is announced. Of course, there are multiple reasons for why this is the case dear reader. For one thing, some films are just able to set such a high bar with their first time at bat that it can be really difficult for a sequel to capture the same magic with perhaps the best example of this that come to mind right off the bat being Ghostbusters II from 1989. Along with that, one must also accept the very real possibility that a particular story thread can become stale or, even worse, repetitive thus making audience interest dwindle rapidly. Incidentally it is for this reason that horror franchises such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, or Nightmare on Elm Street at some point desperately started to look for the big red button with the word “reboot” on it and proceeded to push it with a sense of desperation/contentment that this was the right decision. Along with those, there is also the very real possibility that if too much time passes between movies that a sequel might either not be able to bring back the cast and/or capture the magic that made the first one so special in the first place. Perhaps the most noteworthy example of this can be found with the 1990 slice of cinema The Godfather III. A film that, for what it’s worth, is still a solid movie, but because of the 16 year-span of time between it and the 2nd film it didn’t quite land the same way with either fans or critics. Of course, there is one other option that I feel is worth mentioning and that is no more or less than the fact that sometimes a movie just doesn’t need a sequel, but the studios make one anyway because they either have run out of ideas, are desperate for money, or both. An option that, it is also worth pointing out, I cannot give you one specific example on. Not because I don’t want to, but because I would love nothing more than to forget that the vast majority of the films on that list ever existed in the first place. The reason I bring that last reason up incidentally dear reader is because it was this category that I felt the new release, and slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, Twisters was going to fall into. Not just because I love the original Twister from 1996, but because I saw no reason for this to exist other than money, money, money, and (wait for it) money. Fortunately, every so often Hollywood does still love to throw a surprise my way and that is exactly what we are given here. To be sure, it’s not a flawless film by any means, but with the aid of delightful work on both sides of the camera Twisters is definitely one satisfying and engaging ride that is an absolute blast from start to finish and every minute in between.

The plot is as follows: Set in the same universe as the first film albeit with barely (if any) narrative thread to connect them together, Twisters picks up a solid 2-plus decades on from the events in that film and returns us to the iconic state of Oklahoma. It is here where we are introduced to an all-new heroine by the name of Kate Carter. A young woman who, among other things worth knowing about her, is a college student and avid storm chaser who, for some time prior to the start of our story, has been working alongside a team of fellow extreme weather enthusiasts on a little science experiment of sorts. That being that, with the aid of a Dorothy V doppler device, the group is trying to conjure up a distinct mixture out of a collection of barrels and blend it into a tornado with the goal in mind of negating the storm’s potential intensity. In less scientific terms dear reader: they are working on something that could potentially make a tornado much less destructive than they currently are. To that end, we see that while the team is at first triumphant in deploying this distinct solution, it isn’t long before their happiness turns to terror when the tornado the solution was deployed into gets bigger and they are all stuck in the center of its raging fury. A fury that, save for our heroine and one other team member, the rest of the group doesn’t exactly fare as well when on the receiving end of. From there, the film proceeds to jump ahead a solid 5 years where we see that, in the time since that fateful incident, our heroine has found herself a relatively safe and comfortable job operating at one of NOAA’s offices in the Big Apple until she is reunited with the other survivor from that failed experiment. It seems that in the time since he is now working for a company known as Storm Par and would love it if she would assist his team for a week as they attempt to engage a new way to scan for twisters in Oklahoma. Naturally, due to still being severely torn up over what happened to the rest of their team, it should come as no surprise to learn that Kate at first turns down the offer only to eventually change her mind due to a mix of both heartache for the latest destruction these storms have caused to say nothing of a determination to make amends for the past. Upon making her way back however, we see that it’s not long before Kate and her new team find themselves crossing paths with a noteworthy (or notorious dependent on perspective) Internet storm chasing phenom by the name of Tyler Owens and his team. Thus with multiple twisters deciding to make their presence known across the landscape of central Oklahoma, can our two teams achieve their respective goals whilst keeping the local communities safe or are things about to go funnel-side up on them in the worst way possible? That I will leave for you to discover for yourself….

Now right off, it should be said that the work done by the various departments behind the camera on this particular cinematic outing is actually fairly solid all things considered. This starts with the work done at the helm by Lee Isaac Chung (2020’s Minari) and I really enjoy what he brings to the table here. Indeed perhaps the key thing that Chung does incredibly well here is that, before anything else, he ensures that the human characters (rather than the titular weather phenomenon) are always front and center. On top of that, he also makes sure that the characters are all (fairly) three-dimensional people. As a result, not only do we genuinely get the opportunity to become invested in these characters to say nothing of truly care when the titular storms are wreaking havoc on the screen, but it also does a wonderful job of creating a fairly realistic feeling of suspense when it looks like someone’s about to be taken off the board if you get my meaning. Along with that, we also get to witness that, much in the same vein as Minari, Chung is highly skilled in the art of making nature very much a character in this in the vein of a spot-on and emotionless counterpart to the pathos-driven human-based narrative core of the movie. To be sure, the tone he is working with here is definitely distinct from Minari, but even so we see that Chung contributes a welcome degree of sensitivity that, when coupled with the genuinely thrilling action beats, helps this movie be a lot more well-rounded than it might have been otherwise. This slice of cinema is also the blessed recipient of a fairly well-written screenplay from Mark L. Smith (2015’s The Revenant and 2018’s Overlord among others). Indeed not only does Smith work beautifully in tandem with Chung’s directorial work in terms of character construction, but he also does a terrific job at weaving in the fairly ingenious thematic idea of focusing this film just as much on what happens after these storms in terms of the communities impacted rebuilding as he does on the storms themselves. Indeed if there is an issue to be found with Smith’s work, it would have to be in terms of this film’s plot. This is because, big surprise coming up here, this film’s story is 99.8% predictable to a hilt which means you should be able to predict how exactly this story is going to go right from frame one. Thankfully, the team behind the camera knows you aren’t here for a multilayered narrative; rather, you’re here either on a date, on a dare, or to see some extreme weather destruction and in regards to the last one this film definitely delivers the goods. Indeed not only is there a delightful old-school style present to the moments of destruction and chaos that feels genuinely impressive, but we also see that (much like with Twister from 1996) the crew behind the camera does a terrific job of blending together practical effects work together with digital tricks and techniques in order to both elevate the thrills and increase the degree of realism on display. As a result, not only does it feel like every storm our characters encounter feel real rather than something you might see in a disaster film from The Asylum, but it makes those moments feel genuinely thrilling instead of phoned in.  Suffice it to say that, when you factor in solid work from the cinematography department and a truly dynamic country rock soundtrack, it might not be spot-on in every way, but even so there is no denying that the work done behind the camera most assuredly does its part in bringing this slice of cinema as vividly to life as it manages to be.

Alongside the solid work done behind the camera, this slice of cinema is also the blessed recipient of a collection of equally as well-done work in front of the camera by a game and fairly well-chosen cast of talent even if some get perhaps a bit more in terms of narrative substance to work with than others. Without a doubt, this starts with Daisy Edgar-Jones (2022’s Fresh and Where the Crawdads Sing) and she is fantastic here. Indeed in the role of Kate, we see that Edgar-Jones does a terrific job here of giving us a protagonist that, in a weird way, easily could have been written as the daughter of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s characters from the original and it would have been fairly believable. I say this because not only does Edgar-Jones bring to the table the same kind of haunted trauma that Jo had in the original, but she proceeds to blend that spectacularly well with the reluctant genius and vision that Bill possessed. Indeed this is very much a part that requires an intellect, charisma, formidability, and just the right degree of vulnerability and in that regard there is no denying that Edgar-Jones nails that and then some in the best way possible. Far and away though, the MVP when it comes to the performances given here has to be none other than Glen Powell who is excellent here. Indeed, upon first blush, the character of Tyler is someone who seems smarmy, smug, arrogant to the hilt, and just in it for themselves rather than to really make a difference of any kind. As the film goes on however, we see that Powell is able to do an effective job of shedding that external layer to reveal a decency, intellect, and heart that really help to make the character one worth rooting for. Suffice it to say that it is another phenomenal turn from an actor who has rapidly proven himself to be one of the finest talents of his generation. In addition to the top-tier work done here by Edgar-Jones and Powell, this slice of cinema also gives movie goers a solid turn by Anthony Ramos (Usnavi from 2021’s In the Heights) as Kate’s former colleague Javi. Indeed this is a very intriguing character for reasons I can’t really go too much into detail here, but what I will say is that Ramos does a wonderful job of giving us a person who is, at heart a good person, yet is also very much someone who is consistently torn between trying to make a difference and the bottom line if you get my drift. Lastly, I feel that this section would be amiss if I didn’t take some time to talk about the work done in this slice of cinema by David Corenswet in the role of Javi’s more than slightly shifty business partner Scott. Yes this is very much the stereotypical jerk role you’ve seen a million times before, but there is something undeniably twistedly amusing about seeing this guy play a role like this before he gives us his take on one of the ultimate embodiments of goodness in the form of the iconic superhero Superman next year. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in efforts from such talents as Brandon Perea, character actress Maura Tierney, Katy O’Brian, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, and Sasha Lane among others it’s clear that while not everyone is given as much to work with in terms of material, there is also no denying that each and every one of them still do the best they can with what they are given.

All in all and at the end of the day is Twisters a perfect slice of cinema? Honestly no. With that in mind though, is this the worst entry in the disaster genre of movie magic or even in the respective filmographies of anyone involved in the making of it on either side of the camera? Thankfully I can confirm that is also not the case. To be fair, I must admit that when I first heard that this movie was being made, I was more than just a wee bit on the skeptical side. Not just because the first one was such a seminal part of my (admittedly rather unusual) childhood, but because I really didn’t see the need for another one beyond the land of movie magic being either lazy or just trying to get more money. Thankfully, the land of movie magic still can surprise me every now and then because I actually found myself really digging the heck out of this movie dear reader. To be sure, the story here is fairly predictable and yes a lot of the characters in the story really aren’t given a whole lot in the way of narrative material to work with. With that in mind, there is also no denying that the work at the helm is solid, the visual effects are absolutely stunning, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the performances (with particular regard to the ones given by Edgar-Jones and Powell) all definitely do the best they can with the material that they are given. Suffice it to say then that if you are looking for a prestige picture that is sure to be the talk of the town at the Oscars then I am sorry, but this is not the movie that you are looking for. On the other hand, if you are looking for a thrilling, surprisingly heartfelt at points, and just plain fun entry in the disaster genre then you have definitely come to the right place because Twisters is one cinematic ride that not only provides that and more, but is also one that takes the disaster genre down a potentially exciting new alley whilst also being a film that, much like the original, is sure to be enjoyed time and time again both by you and by the teenage extreme weather lovers in your own life as well. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give Twisters a solid F-3.5 out of 5.