Twisters (2024) Review

 The plot of “Twister”, released in 1996, is charming in an almost naive sense. It features a monster battling film detailing a tornado as a monster. The tornado is nonchalant about the people trying to catch it. In the same way a volcano erupts, a tornado does not possess anger or hunger. Tornadoes do not have consciousness, but do have controllable cases:

A formation, destruction, and dissolution

This set of actions creates remarkable drama. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton give life to a scrapped couple that drives pausing at every gas station just to chase tornadoes while attempting to deploy a “Dorothy” to save lives. Multiple contexts seem to lack complex backstories, or elaborate lore but retain “Dorothy”s comprehension.

“Twister” is one of the best examples of exploiting mid 90s pop culture as interlaced with century filled movies. It features an astounding 90s blend containing: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Jami Gertz, Todd Field (Tár). Subsequently, “Twister” patents itself as a classic being a frequent customer on cable TV: effortless for the pair to grasp the plot midair.

Almost 30 years later, “Twisters,” is positioned as a standalone sequel to “Twister,” as it gets ready to release into a much tougher market. The blockbuster age of stand-alone originals is long gone, overtaken by an onslaught of superheroes and new and old franchises. Surely “Twister” has fans, but for the die-hard ones, “Twisters” hardly has anything other than a tornado to relate to the original.  

Tornadoes are a completely different beast today. After watching “Twisters,” I checked my phone and I received a message from my mom who usually lives in a heavily snowed area but now cares about the weather. National Weather Service alerts used to only talk about thunderstorms and flash floods but now includes tornadoes.  

Twisters (2024)

Even though there’s no mention of “climate change” in “Twisters,” anyone who goes through severe weather can vouch for the growing intensity of these systems, this hurricane season is expected to be especially bad. If you went on a trip over the Memorial Day weekend, you probably experienced the brunt of it firsthand. These days, the cluster appearance of tornadoes is the reason for the film’s plural title.

Although weather-related extremes are extremely inconvenient, the fact remains that tornadoes and similar phenomena can create a complete disaster for people. “Twisters” does a more comprehensive job addressing this aspect than its predecessor did. It showcases entire populations emotionally and financially devastated as a result of insane, unrelenting weather. The movie also features everyone who stands to benefit off all this heightened risk, from active traders to social media personalities. “Twisters” intends to reach a broad demographic and mostly accomplishes this goal.”  

Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a striking character at the center of “Twisters,” is a weather expert who, like Helen Hunt’s character in the original film, works through deep-seated memories of an encounter with a tornado. The encounter is of mutual violence: she suffers and so does the tornado. Carter now works for the National Weather Service in New York City, and she has an unusual talent of predicting tornado behavior like their trajectories, chances of strengthening, crucially, and counteraction potential.When Kate’s old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) contacts her asking to join him in tracking tornadoes for a new and possibly life-saving initiative, she agrees to go west, albeit reluctantly. Javi, a Floridan and Kate’s college friend, is quite concerned with the anthropogenic effects of severe weather phenomena. As Kate arrives in Oklahoma, she is met with the active tornado season and a host of tornado ‘chasers.’ Among them is a ripoff Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) and his motley crew who capture tornado footage using drones and fireworks for YouTube. Tyler calls himself ‘tornado wrangler’ and sells executive style cowboy clothes with his title on them. He is nothing more than an arrogant poser and those who have inspiration from the Kansas city need to grow up persona in Kate’s eyes piece most if not all of the delusions about him.

Twisters (2024)

And I suppose you can figure out where “Twisters,” for which Mark L. Smith wrote the screenplay, adapting a tale crafted by “Top Gun: Maverick” director Joseph Kosinski, most likely wants to take you, has a hint of a classic 1990s blockbuster feel to it. This formula weaves together every familiar narrative thread and brings a welcome dose of nostalgia as an action-adventure-disaster story about ordinary people trying to do extraordinary things.

This film has a distinct modern vibe as well. This is likely due to the direction of Lee Isaac Chung, who guided “Minari,” a subtle Korean family immigrant drama that was nominated for six Academy Awards. Though “Minari” and “Twisters” differ in genre, both capture the essence of the American Midwest, especially the formidable storms that rage throughout it, something Chung draws from his childhood in Arkansas. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting director for this narrative because of the way he beautifully balances focusing on the survivors while maintaining a sense of thrill in the adventure.

Much of the excitement in “Twisters” comes from its unique 2024 addition: Glen Powell, the center of everyone’s attention this year. This is not surprising as this is his third huge movie this year after romantic comedy “Anyone but You” and Netflix’s “Hit Man.” He always appears to be having a blast, but he seems downright bored in “Twisters.” In this movie, he plays a tornado wrangler, a character somewhere in between a contemporary cowboy and a romantic hero, who starts off as a complete jerk only to soften up.

On the other hand, Edgar-Jones comes off as rather uninspiring, lacking the fire requisite to keep up with Powell’s drive. Their dynamic together remains rather disappointing, especially when Maura Tierney’s casting as Kate’s mother accentuates the imbalance. Also, it should be noted that Ramos, although on screen for a limited time, commands a lot of presence with his portrayal. There seems to be a lack of elasticity with Edgar-Jones’ performance, strong enough to hold the audience suspenseful to who might come next, in this case - Powell.

Twisters (2024)

This problem of casting continuity in “Twisters” is what leads the film to lag in certain parts. One can effortlessly imagine a different actress for Kate's character, someone more vibrant and witty who could have created a better rapport with Powell. Regardless, “Twisters” has its redeeming qualities, being filled with comedic yet thrilling moments sprinkled throughout.

There’s also a more nuanced perspective to think about. A crucial moment in the story indicates that this is a monster film which captures the essence of an ominous and yet unfathomable entity that needs a hero to battle it. The storm in “Twister” was nothing more than a phenomenon to chase around and devise a way to predict its behavior scientifically. However, “Twisters” shows a differing perspective wherein the focus shifts from merely trying to forecast the monster's path — a domain where science has mostly triumphed — to trying to fight it and diminish its powers. The question of whether such a fight is meaningless hangs heavily in the air.

That is a haunting thought regardless of whether or not tornado alerts are being broadcast while you're glued to the screen. If we are not able to control climate change, do we at least hope to manage its aftermath? And if so, who stands to profit from it? Who will manipulate these shifts in weather, and who will suffer the fallout? The apocalyptic undertones in “Twisters” strike harder. The tornado is symbolically an obstinate problem, but the storm we witness and its destructive powers are all too real.

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