Twisters (2024)

Dir: Lee Isaac Chung

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane

The nostalgic summer spectacle is elevated by Glen Powell’s undeniable charisma but despite a series of increasingly gripping set-pieces, it never fully blew me away

2024 is well on its way in delivering a summer of old fashioned cinematic nostalgia. We have already seen legacy sequels in the once forgotten “Bad Boys” and “Beverly Hills Cop” franchises, as well as throwback horrors “MaXXXine” and creature feature “Sting”. Hollywood has definitely become more cynical in recent years with major summer blockbusters undergoing a more dramatic tonal shift, so to see the bygone eras of the 80s and 90s celebrated on the big screen has been refreshing. While the recent aforementioned releases have not delivered the resonant themes often associated with modern releases, they have provided the old-school, popcorn entertainment that was once responsible for the industry’s success. Since the pandemic, cinemas have taken a hit with the more sporadic cinema-goers remaining hesitant to return to their cineplex, and with the likes of the thematically heavy, though excellent, “Oppenheimer” being one of the biggest films in recent years, maybe we do need more fun at the pictures.

Back in the 90’s and 00’s, one subgenre that would always see audiences flocking to the cinema was that of the disaster movie. Often critically maligned, disaster movies offered a brainless, edge of the seat spectacle that could not be rivalled, until they were eventually usurped by the now oversaturated superhero market. With even the most devout fans of both Marvel and DC becoming sick of the increasing amount of disappointing content, perhaps it is time for the disaster movie to make a comeback.

One of the most famous films of the genre during its heyday was 1996’s “Twister”. The Jan du Pont directed sensation was one of the highest grossing films of 1996 and would go on to be the first film to be released on DVD – remember those? At a time when disaster flicks like “Independence Day”, “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact” were putting the whole planet in jeopardy, “Twister” remained relatively grounded for the subgenre, with the titular natural phenomena primarily occurring within the state boarders of Oklahoma. As well as accumulating almost $500 million at the box office, “Twister’s” release saw a significant rise in meteorology graduates in the United States, as well as inspiring many locals within Tornado Valley to become storm chasers themselves. Following the death of its star Bill Paxton in 2017, there was a revived interest in storm chasing, resulting in “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski being brought on board by Universal and Amblin to write and direct a potential sequel. With a script written in 2022 by Kosinski, Paxton’s co-star from the original, Helen Hunt, was attached to direct, but the studios ultimately went with “Minari” director Lee Isaac Chung.

Based on Kosinski’s story, “Twisters” serves as a stand alone legacy sequel to the Michael Crichton penned original. We are introduced to bright, aspiring scientist Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who in spite of being mesmerised by the tornadoes ravaging her home state of Oklahoma, seeks to tame their potentially destructive power. After a disastrous attempt at taming an F5 category tornado goes awry, Kate’s closest friends are killed, leaving Kate and her colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos) the only survivors.

Cut to five years later and an emotionally scarred Kate is working for a weather station in New York City when she is approached by Javi, who has since served in the military and has become a well-meaning entrepreneur. Javi’s latest business venture involves utilising high-grade military equipment to collect information on weather phenomena, which he then passes onto a morally dubious Oklahoma real-estate magnate. Javi recruits Kate onto his team of NASA based scientists as they return to the Sooner State in the midst of a tornado outbreak. In classic snobs versus slobs fashion, Javi and Kate find their team up against a ragtag band of “tornado wranglers”, led by charming YouTube storm chaser, Tyler Owens (Glen Powell). Despite their social divide, adopted “city girl” Kate begins to question Javi’s motives and begins to warm to Tyler’s do-gooding entourage, as both teams encounter the ever increasing number of potentially catastrophic “twisters”.

When it was announced that “Twisters” would be Chung’s next project following his universally acclaimed character-based family affair “Minari”, I was unsure as to which direction the franchise would go. The 90’s popcorn favourite could not be more removed from Chung’s Academy Award winning drama, with the 45-year-old showcasing his excellent character rendering and grounded storytelling, something hardly associated with the disaster subgenre. While Chung does bring the visual flair that earned him a Directing nomination in 2021, the character work is largely abandoned with screenwriter Mark L. Smith leaning heavily towards the cheesy one dimensional dialogue more synonymous with disaster films. While this lack of any real depth does allow for us as the audience to fully embrace the breath-taking visual effects, I did find myself without any emotional attachment towards the impressive ensemble. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos are incredibly talented young actors and do the best with what they are given here as the movie’s two straight-faced characters, but all their thunder is completely stolen by the screen-stealing, embodiment of charisma, that is…Glen Powell.

With his natural charm and good looks, Powell has cemented himself as a modern Hollywood movie star in recent years. The 35-year-old Texan has already appeared in comedies “Anyone but You” and “Hit Man” in 2024, hopefully a busy year does not result in audiences suffering from Glen Powell-fatigue. With no notable arcs, or chemistry evident between Powell and Edgar-Jones’ leading characters, it is Powell’s often comedic streamer persona that provides the film with the humour and energy to prevent it becoming a slog. Outside of the core trio, who occupy the bulk of the screentime, there is an impressive cast that is painfully underutilised. The ensemble includes: Katy O’Brian (“Love Lies Bleeding”), Brandon Perea (“Nope”), Maura Tierney (“The Iron Claw”), Sasha Lane (“American Honey”), Daryl McCormack (“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”), Kiernan Shipka (“Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”) and future “Superman” actor, David Corenswet, all of whom are reduced to unrelatable caricatures, largely kept in the shadows of the main trio’s central dynamic.

Outside of Powell’s dynamism and Chung’s visual eye, the real star of “Twisters”, and rightly so, is the treacherous titular cyclones. Realised by impressive visuals and genuinely gripping set-pieces, there is a constant sense of danger whenever a large scale tornado tears through the screen, quite literally during the film’s intense final act. While I may have wanted more to ponder over given modern expectations, “Twisters” manages to deliver exactly what its predecessor managed almost 30 years ago, an old-school summer blockbuster in its truest of forms and despite my reservations I am here for it.

Twisters is now showing in UK Cinemas

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