Meteorologist Kate Cooper encounters personal tragedy attempting to ‘tame’ tornados in mid-west America. But when Kate decides to team up with an old colleague who tracks her down, she must face-off against one of nature’s most intense forces.
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung of critically acclaimed Korean film, ‘Minari’ – which was also based in Oklahoma – and written by Joseph Kosinski who directed the massive ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, we are in for one of the most visceral rides of the year with the new high velocity blockbuster, ‘Twisters’. A film that is a pretty well-written, loose nod to the original ‘Twister’ from 1996 starring Helen Hunt and the late Bill Paxton, whose son James Paxton actually has a brief cameo in the film.
Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as meteorologist Kate Cooper and Glen Powell as larger than life Tyler Owens, a YouTube star and ‘tornado wrangler’; who are tracking tornados for seemingly very different reasons. Early in the film, Kate and her team attempt to suppress a tornado with chemicals based on a theory of hers, which ends in disaster. Cut to Kate retreating from her hometown in the mid-west of America to New York, only to be tracked down by her old colleague Javi, played by Anthony Ramos (In The Heights). Javi’s recent military background now gives him and his well-funded team the chance to track tornados through a company called Storm Par and Kate is of course the brilliant missing piece in their puzzle.
After reluctantly agrees to join them, Kate finds the twister chasers now include YouTube thrill seekers… cue rising star, Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and his team of non-MIT graduates misfits, who seem at first to be out for the glory. With some pleasant plot twists, we do have however a ‘zero to hero’ element (and a reversal of that for a beat), which happily takes one by surprise and creates something deeper than expected going beyond the typical story you expect and keeps you guessing about what some of the character’s true intensions are.
The original film made a very healthy $500m at the box office and filmmakers had originally intended to bring Helen Hunt as Kate’s mother. However when Hunt’s idea to kill her character off early in the film was rejected by the writers, she declined to return, which is a shame. Having said that there are still plenty of nods to the original including ‘Dorothy’, the tornado monitoring device, now in it’s fifth incarnation. The technology the characters use in ‘Twisters’ to create heavy rain and so to suppress the tornado, is actually closer to what would be required in real life, making this outing a little more ‘realistic’.
What made ‘Twister’ a fan favourite back in the 90s (despite the so-so story line) were the groundbreaking visual effects, developed off the success of other recent films like ‘Jurassic Park’. Plus the cinematic digital audio revolution had truly taken off, placing the audience right in the sonic path of the tornados, with dynamic surround sound and seat-shaking bass. Fast forward to 2024 and the Dolby Atmos (in certain cinemas) soundtrack for ‘Twisters’ is even more exciting and dynamic… moving over and above the audience and if you have the chance, try to see it in IMAX for an even more immersive experience. Having said that the story is still what you would expect from a summer blockbuster, but on the whole it’s well-acted by the main cast despite the fact there are far more characters than really required to bring this to life. Less really would have been more here.
What carries the film however, is the chemistry between Daisy and Glenn Powell who simply cannot put a foot wrong over the last year of very well received releases. Both characters at first seem somewhat one-dimensional, but as the film goes on their growing relationship solidifies the heart of the film, elevating it above some of the more ‘brainless’ summer blockbusters of late. With Maura Tierney (ER) as Cathy Carter, Katy’s mother we have the welcome pause and story building required to elevate this just above another mindless film. With social media going mad over Glen’s needless t-shirt rain scene (IYKYK), it’s luring fans back in for what is two hours of massive fun. See it as big and as loud as possible!
Author: Piers, Maidstone Store
I actually think I liked it better than the original. Nice review.