Product Info

Studio

Universal Studios

Director

Lee Isaac Chung

Genre

Action, Adventure, Thriller

Rated

PG-13

Theatrical Release Date (NA)

Jul 19, 2024

Film Length

2hr 2min

Purchase From

Twisters is a new entry to the extreme weather films genre and is not a sequel to Twister, the 1996 film with Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. While Twisters has action and a positive story, its mediocre cast and minute references to the original movie make a tough case for it to be a worthy successor.

No Relation to the Powerful

© Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Let’s get this point straight from the start… Twisters is not a sequel movie. There are a couple vague references to the original movie, but they’re nothing notable. This movie takes place twenty years after the original and focuses on Kate Carter, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Normal People), a highly educated meteorologist specializing in tornado behavior. Kate, along with her small crew, introduce the audience to tornado chasing from the very first scene. She has an old Dorothy, the vehicle used in the original movie to send hundreds of sensors up into a tornado, though it’s now a bit antiquated. However Kate is trying to prove a totally new theory of “killing” the tornado in its tracks. In order to do this, she must put her trailer of barrels in the suck zone of a tornado, so the chase is (still) on.

After a stint in the New York weather bureau, she finds herself back in Oklahoma to help a friend and his corporate sponsor chase tornados. Naturally, there are very active weather cells moving in the area, so lots of chase teams are around. Here is where Tyler Owens shows up, played very well by Glen Powell (Top Gun:Maverick, Hit Man), the all-American internet “Tornado Russler” with one million YouTube subscribers. 

Will They or Won’t They

© Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Through all the commotion of people and equipment checks, Kate and Tyler lock eyes and certainly notice each other. From there, the chase is on in very entertaining form. Tyler is a well-humored, laid back character who is fun to watch banter with Kate, who has a talent for humorous banter herself. Between them, it is soon resolved that they need to stick together to get Kate’s experiment off the ground and into a tornado. One of the best props in any tornado movie is Tylers’ truck. This thing is right out of a Mad Max movie with a special device that can secure the truck to the ground anywhere—very cool. Of course, there are a lot of close calls and a lengthy visit to Kate’s mom’s house to put a finer point on both Kate and Tyler’s characters. This is where the audience decides these two are so likable they need to stick together. They do for the rest of the movie, but do they stay together? The audience is left to decide that one.

Blown off course

© Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

The very good soundtrack is noticeable in this movie. It’s mostly to keep the audience engaged because there really is not anything new with the special effects or the premise of how to chase a tornado. After twenty years, has nothing changed? Yes, it is still good cinema that will be watched on streaming several times, so don’t be too discouraged. Just don’t expect to see “the extreme”.

Also, even though the script is quite well written, the casting is a bit off. Other than Kate and Tyler, the rest of the cast really don’t gel very well at all. With the template of the original movie’s fantastic casting right there, it is a shame more attention wasn’t given to this very important ingredient to movie making.

The Final Twist

It’s unfortunate that Twisters gets in its own way because it has the looks to be on par with the 1996 film. Still, if you highly enjoy over-the-top weather movies, give Twisters a spin.

An early screening provided for this review. Twisters hits theaters on July 19, 2024.