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Go behind the scenes of Twisters with Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell
Featurette: Universal Pictures and Warner Bros.

Twisters
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung
Rated PG-13
Whirled 19 July 2024
#TwistersMovie

Twisters is the disaster movie Twister couldn’t be 28 years ago.

Tornadobusters

It was the cast that made the first one work so well. Helen Hunt. Bill Paxton. Phillip Seymour Hoffman. And those groundbreaking (at the time) special effects which made audiences believe a cow could fly.

Twisters starts off feeling a little too familiar. Quirky, amiable and raggedy science nerds are introduced. They’re the best of friends. But don’t get too attached. Like Marion Crane in Psycho, their antics are all a prelude to a tragedy. In Twisters, that leaves one of the friends, Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where the Crawdads Sing), emotionally scarred for life. And, as with Twister, the action picks up years later. This time, it’s five years later.

The similarities continue with the introduction of a "Cowboy Scientist" named Tyler Owens (Glen Powell, Top Gun: Maverick). Is this turning into nothing more than a remake with fresh faces and upgraded graphics? Is Glen Powell merely the new Cary Elwes, the grating, attention-hogging competitor who’s quick to steal an idea and take all the glory?

Well, no.

It takes a while, but Twisters ultimately finds its own tone and pace. Once that happens, it turns into quite a ride. There’s also a very casual approach to acknowledging the original Twister. It doesn’t lie in any sort of familial lineage among the characters or even in any conversational references, which is actually a good thing. Instead, the only direct reference to Twister is in the appearance of Dorothy Mark V and those sensor orbs with soda can propellers.

This time, as before, the scientists’ efforts are focused on sending sensors into twisters to collect critical data to help warn people as similar conditions arise. But there’s also an interesting, next-level angle that Kate had hoped to explore before tragedy struck: sending chemical compounds into the tornadoes to absorb all the moisture and starve them, making the twisters vanish.

Junk science? Maybe. Maybe not.

Regardless, it makes for an entertaining movie.

Oklahoma Is OK

Once director Lee Isaac Chung (Oscar-nominated director of Minari), working with a story by Joseph Kosinski (Tron Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick) and a screenplay by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Overlord), ups the ante, there’s quite a bit to appreciate.

For starters, Twisters puts a much larger spotlight on the devastating aftermath of tornadoes that hit populated areas. Towns are decimated. In one instance, there’s mass panic at a rodeo as a storm sets in. And in that regard, Twisters turns into the kind of quality disaster movie that hasn’t been seen in quite a while. (Sorry, San Andreas and Skyscraper (and Dwayne Johnson) the key word is "quality.")

A souvenir “Not my first tornadeo” T-shirt

The disasters help ground the drama while the characters spin it around and turn it upside-down. That’s where a large part of the fun resides in this one.

At first Tyler is deplorable. He and his gang of "hillbillies with a YouTube channel" are more than a little over the top as they sell self-promotional T-shirts emblazoned with Tyler’s grinning face and the slogan, "Not My First Tornadeo." They’re obnoxious and a jarring change of tone after having been introduced to Kate and her more down-to-earth crew of science nerds. But the shock doesn’t last. There are character developments that put some of these weather freaks in a wholly different light. That goes for both tornado-wrangling teams. And it works. It’s a nifty narrative spin.

It certainly helps to once again have a great cast that can play off each other and the narrative twists. Of course, that includes Edgar-Jones and Powell, but other standouts include the always engaging Anthony Ramos (In the Heights) as Javi, one of Kate’s long-time friends, and, as Kate’s mom, Maura Tierney (NewsRadio).

As for Daisy Edgar-Jones, while watching her in the climactic scenes sporting cargo pants, a tank-top and a bruised face, thoughts start to gel. She could (and should) very well follow in the footsteps of Oscar winners Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander and become the next Lara Croft. (Think about it, Hollywood. She’s even naturally British. No finder’s fee required.)

Tornado Alley

Much as Oklahoma is a "flyover" state for many, the more jaded members in the audience might skip right past the patriotic elements surrounding the rodeo scenes and a real-world observation that tornado ratings, such as an EF5, can only be measured in the aftermath, by what’s left in the tornado’s wake, the devastation that’s left behind. Connect the dots and perhaps "home of the brave" resonates a little differently with those folks confronting the dangers either by choice (as with the tornado wranglers) or by life (the residents who are accustomed to a certain calmer rural lifestyle compared to those geographically and emotionally detached from twisters).

And, in that same spirit, Powell delivers a great line as Tyler and Kate discuss their childhood roots and what scares them. "You don’t face your fears. You ride ‘em."

Even with talk of being "YouTube famous" and the onslaught of storm chasers (likely inspired by the original Twister) brandishing $10 phone apps, there’s also an acknowledgment sometimes the old ways are better than the new.

With that in mind, Twisters follows suit. There are plenty of seamless visual feasts and the thunderous effects culminate with a clever conclusion in a blown-out movie theatre where the vacant space previously occupied by a silver screen that was long gone with the wind becomes an out-sized window on the shambles left by a tornadoes whirling strokes.

Ultimately, though, Twisters focuses on the people and they make a bigger impression than the technology. There’s also another twist – of sorts – at the movie’s end that is an unabashed, old-school romantic ending designed to generate smiles.

Unless, of course, you’re among the jaded and it’s just another flyover moment.

• Originally published at MovieHabit.com.