Let’s face it: when the original Twister
blew into theatres in 1996, we got a very unique disaster movie. It
gave us flying cows, exploding tractors, and Bill Paxton’s intense
weather-channel eyes. Fast forward nearly 30 years, and 2024’s Twisters
spun its way onto the screen with a bigger budget, smarter storms, and a
level of drama that makes the original look like a light breeze. The
big question: “Does it suck you in or leave you feeling windswept and empty?”
As with the original, this film follows a group of storm chasers – or “Tornado Tamers” as they call themselves – as the hunt down the titular twisters, but in this outing, the central character is Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones),
a reluctant storm chaser trying to move past the trauma of losing some
of her teammates to a tornado in her home state of Oklahoma a few years
ago. Is it me, or do all scientists in these types of films have a
traumatic back story? Wracked with guilt, Kate had quit storm chasing
and moved to New York City and now works for NOAA (National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), where the chances of
encountering bad tornadoes are very slim. Enter Javi (Anthony Ramos), the one other surviving member of her original team, who is now working for mobile tornado radar company Storm Par.
He offers Kate a position with his team to test a new tornado scanning
system using phased-array radar, and maybe find some love from an old
friend. Sadly, while the first movie had many people ending up in the
“Suck Zone,” poor Javi finds himself trapped in the “Friend Zone.” Of
course, we’ll learn that Javi’s motivations are not entirely altruistic.
“Tell me, are you in it for the money?”
Kate initially declines Javi’s offer, but when she sees a news report
of a town being destroyed by a tornado, she decides to get back in the
saddle and maybe save some lives. Now, we may question the odds of a
“Once in a Generation” tornado season, but when you have movie gods on
your side, this kind of stuff happens all the time. So, with her
passion turned back on, Kate is off and running back to Oklahoma to see
if she can finally make a difference. Soon upon arrival, she has an
encounter with popular YouTube storm chaser Tyler Owens (Glen Powell),
known as the “Tornado Wrangler,” and despite these two having an insane
amount of chemistry and an F5 worth of sexual tension, they somehow
manage to avoid having sex during this film’s entire running time.
Instead of doing the “Devil’s Tango,” they will buckle down and strap in
and figure out how to make her old science project work and save the
day.
Atmospheric and sexual tension are at an all-time high.
Stray Observations:
• The original film featured eight tornadoes, while this sequel has ten, which raises the question, “Does having two more tornadoes justify the pluralization of the sequel’s title?”
•
In this movie, tornadoes keep popping up and catching crowds unaware,
which is all kinds of bullshit, as Oklahoma TV stations have teams of
trained spotters deployed, a helicopter for each station, and multiple
forms of advanced radar to track storms. But a hero has to hero.
• In
the original film, the rival storm chasers drove black vans because
they were “In it for the money,” while Javi and his team are in white
trucks, but they are also in it for the money. I’m confused.
•
Despite the tornadoes tossing cows, barns, and entire houses, the team’s
trucks always comes out suspiciously unscathed, with just a few
scratches; they are basically the Chuck Norris of vehicles.
• Benthic Petroleum, the fictional oil company that owns the deep-sea oil rig in The Abyss, owns the oil refinery that explodes and creates a fire tornado in this flick.
• Tyler explains the formation of tornadoes as “It’s part science … and part religion.” Sorry, dude, it’s all science.
•
Our heroes are constantly spouting advice to the locals as to where to
go and what to do when a tornado is approaching, as if every person in
Oklahoma wouldn’t already know this.
They are experts at pointing out the blatantly obvious.
One of the most challenging aspects of creating a sequel to an iconic film is balancing nostalgia with innovation. Twisters
manages this by including subtle nods to the original film while
introducing a fresh story. The inclusion of cameos from the original
cast members, though brief, pays homage to the first movie and honours
its legacy, particularly through heartfelt references to Bill Paxton’s
character. These moments ground the film in its roots, offering fans a
sense of continuity. However, this sequel deviates from the intimate
storytelling of the original, favouring a broader narrative with higher
stakes. While the original film focused on a small team of storm chasers
and their personal connections, the sequel expands the scope, featuring
a new generation of storm chasers tackling increasingly catastrophic
storms. This shift in focus reflects the growing concerns about climate
change and its role in producing more severe weather phenomena. While
these themes add a layer of relevance, they sometimes feel underexplored
amidst the action-packed sequences.
Is climate change responsible for Firenados?
As for the film’s lovely tornadoes? On that, it definitely delivers.
The tornadoes in this movie are practically characters themselves,
complete with personalities. One storm chases the crew like a petty ex.
Another just shows up, levels a city, and peaces out like a diva who
doesn’t need an encore. The special effects are dazzling, with debris
that practically flies out of the screen and hailstones that look like
they could take out a small car—or Glen Powell’s ego. These CGI
tornadoes are a jaw-dropping spectacle, from a double-twister showdown
to a climactic storm that practically feels alive. The sound design
deserves its own standing ovation; you’ll swear you’re in the eye of the
storm.
The awesome power of Mother Nature.
That the tornadoes were going to look cool was a given – visual
effects have made great strides over the past three decades – but what
about this film’s tornado chasers? Daisy Edgar-Jones anchors the film
with a heartfelt performance, balancing vulnerability and grit. Her
backstory as a meteorologist haunted by past failures provides a strong
foundation, but her arc often takes a backseat to the relentless action.
Glen Powell is equally charismatic, though his character feels like he
stepped out of an action movie rather than a disaster film; his charm
and humour bring moments of levity, but his character is confined to a
familiar archetype of the roguish yet dependable partner.
“Han Solo ain’t got nothin’ on me.”
As for Twisters’ supporting cast, this ensemble
features a diverse array of storm chasers, yet many of them are
relegated to one-dimensional roles. The original Twister
succeeded in making even minor characters memorable, but this sequel
struggles to give them meaningful contributions to the story. This lack
of character depth detracts from the film’s emotional impact, leaving us
less invested in the stakes. They provide comic relief and occasional
gravitas, with standout moments from a British reporter who looks like
he wandered in from a sitcom, and some characters exist solely as
tornado fodder, their fates telegraphed from their first lines of
dialogue.
Note:
The movie depicts a serene “eye” in the middle of the tornado where the
characters can have a heartfelt conversation. Tornadoes don’t have calm
centres like hurricanes; inside a tornado, it’s chaotic, with constant
debris and violent winds.
While the film’s inaccuracies are
glaring if you know a thing or two about storms, they don’t take away
from the movie’s sheer fun factor. It’s less of a meteorological lesson
and more of a tornado-themed thrill ride. Unfortunately, aside from the
dodgy science, the screenplay gets bogged down in cliché-heavy dialogue
and forced romantic subplots that feel unnecessary in the face of
nature’s chaos. Moreover, while the action sequences are thrilling, they
sometimes overshadow the story’s emotional core. Where the original Twister balanced scientific intrigue with personal stakes, Twisters often feels like it’s chasing spectacle for spectacle’s sake.
To be fair, it is a pretty amazing spectacle.
In the end, Twisters’ director Lee Isaac Chung
wasn’t trying to reinvent the disaster movie genre, but he didn’t need
to. It’s a popcorn flick through and through, packed with
edge-of-your-seat thrills, stunning visuals, and just enough heart to
keep you invested. While the emotional beats and character development
feel underbaked, the sheer scale of the tornado action more than makes
up for it. And honestly, that’s what we all came to see.
