Film review: ‘TWISTERS’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

Such is the power of Gen X nostalgia that a film made nearly 30 years ago can still seem ripe for a sequel. Thankfully, though, Twisters – which is more a remake than sequel of the 1996 Helen Hunt/ Bill Paxton film Twister – isn’t just a nostalgic cash-in but a surprisingly entertaining action/ romance.

Twisters stars Daisy Edgar Jones (When the Crawdads Sing) as the seemingly relentless storm chasing meteorologist Kate Cooper.  With a near psychic ability to predict the path of deadly storms, she charges into the most brutal tornadoes in the name of science.  A tragedy depicted in the prologue, however, destroys her love of storm chasing while equipping her character with the requisite emotional baggage that drives the rest of the film.  Years later she’s recruited by former colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos) to help track destructive tornadoes across America’s South West.  There she encounters supremely cocky YouTube sensation storm chaser, Tyler Owens (Anyone But You’s Glen Powell) and Nostradamus won’t be required to predict how their initially frosty relationship will turn out.

While often obvious and predictable, Twisters is still an impressive piece of meat and taters Hollywood action filmmaking and seems infused with the DNA of one of its producers, Mr Steven Spielberg.  Critical to the film’s success is the way Director Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) handles the pacing.  For exposition and character development, he employs just the right number of slower, quieter moments before ratcheting up the tension as the almighty storms approach then unleashing tornado carnage.

The main reason people see a film like this is the spectacle of tornado destruction. Chung delivers some fierce and often extremely intense storm sequences that convincingly use CGI.  There are the plenty of action cliches such as huge, potentially decapitating objects just missing our heroes but these scenes aren’t too cheesy and don’t distract from the white-knuckle tornado havoc.  Impressively, the film feels much shorter than its 122 minutes.

Chung cleverly mixes action, romance and some questionable but intriguing storm science.  Here Kate has devised something that might quell the power of a tornado.  I have no idea if the science behind it is remotely credible but it gives the film a little more focus and purpose than the simple storm tracking of the original.  Like the 1996 film, though, this one makes fine use of the environment, placing us in the vast and stunning landscape of the Oklahoma prairies.

As Kate, Daisy Edgar-Jones makes for a mostly appealing lead, mixing vulnerability, ballsiness and scientific smarts.  Glen Powell, whose star seems to be rapidly on the rise, does a convincing job of turning the arrogant tosser Tyler into a heroic love interest for Kate.  Importantly, there’s genuine chemistry between the two.  The supporting cast, however, are mostly generic comedy relief, party animal or uptight corporate sleazebag types.

Amid the action spectacle and Kate and Tyler’s romantic jousting, the film at least touches on ideas like the dangers of hubris and emphasises the devastating impact tornadoes have on communities.  It’s a little too coy in its references to climate change, however, with only brief mention of increasing storms and other weather events.

While it barely advances the art of cinema beyond what we saw 30 years ago, Twisters shows that mainstream Hollywood can still deliver a decent popcorn movie.

Nick’s rating: ***1/2

Genre: Drama/ Action/ Adventure/ Animation.

Classification: M.

Director(s): Lee Isaac Chung.

Release date: 11th July 2024.

Running time: 122 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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