If you are looking for a thrilling natural disaster movie to watch then I would suggest “Twisters.” “Twisters” stormed into theaters this past summer 28 years after the original movie “Twister.” The sequel, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, includes the same thrill as the original. The suspense builds like rolling storm clouds above. “Twisters” is a movie that is sure to leave your heart racing as deadly storms draw closer and closer.
“Twisters” follows meteorologist Kate Carter, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, who is called back into storm-chasing despite her painful past as the weather in Oklahoma intensifies. She joins forces with a team led by her old storm-chasing friend Javi, played by Anthony Ramos, to collect data on tornadoes in the hopes to better predict them and potentially stop them from forming. Rivalry stirs like a tornado when another team of storm chasers, who are led by the reckless social media star Tyler Owens, played by Glen Powell, compete with them to reach the tornadoes first. Storm clouds brew in the Oklahoma sky like the tension between the two teams which only furthers the chase. The movie is rated PG-13 but mostly for scary moments involving tornadoes and some bad language.
I personally enjoyed watching “Twisters” because of the balance of action, character development, and character relationships. The frightening aspect of a tornado and all that it destroys in its path is paired nicely with characters that break the stereotypical summer blockbuster molds. Kate is independent, smart, and strong while also flawed with past traumatic experiences that allow her to grow, which I feel are encouraging traits to see in female movie characters. Tyler, despite initially being the overly confident and reckless male character, later shows that has a heart, is smart, and cares for the people around him. The additional characters also have a great amount of depth to them, some even turn “villainous” and their trust with the main characters is torn apart as if a tornado had come barreling through. I do think that the casting carried the movie. Both Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are actors who are becoming more well known in the media which is why I think “Twisters” was such a hit.
The “Twisters” film score and sound track adds immensely to the movie’s overall mood. The sound track includes new songs made for the movie by current country artists such as Lainey Wilson, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, and Miranda Lambert. The sound track also includes other artists such as Benson Boone, Shania Twain, Chris Stapleton, and several others. The use of country rock songs give a twangy country feel that’s combined with the fast pacing of electric guitars which perfectly puts Midwest storm chasing into music. The songs also make the action scenes more action packed. Not to mention the album is nice to listen to outside of the movie even if you aren’t a country fan.
I like “Twisters” as a new movie, but I have some critiques for the film as a sequel. The film included the scientific instrument, Dorthy, from the first film, but it did not include any ties to the original characters. The lack of original characters made me question if “Twisters” could really be titled a sequel. I originally thought that Kate was the daughter of the first movies’ main characters, and I feel that would have made the movie make more sense as to how she got Dorthy.
Another part of the film that I feel could have been better is the visuals. Real tornadoes will turn the sky dark and green. Meanwhile, “Twisters” portrayed the tornadoes as being light gray and the sky being filled with puffy clouds, not deadly. I think the first movie did a better job at portraying the darkness of a tornado which adds to the film’s cinematography and makes the film more thrilling. In some cases I do think the graphics in “Twisters” were well done, but in comparison to the computer-generated imagery, or CGI of a movie that came out twenty-eight years earlier, it leaves me slightly disappointed. Overall, the brightness of “Twisters” diminishes how powerful and frightening tornadoes actually are.
Some of the scenes in the movie seemed a little unrealistic which slightly took me out of the movie at times. For example, there is one scene where a crowd is watching a baseball game and they see a tornado in a flash of lightning before any tornado sirens go off. In reality the crowd would have been warned about the tornado way before it was right in front of them. The number of times tornado sirens don’t go off when there is obviously a tornado close by is astonishing. The first movie focused so heavily on being better able to predict tornadoes to warn people faster, while the second movie makes it seem like people don’t have any sort of advanced weather warning systems before a potential tornado. Not to say that all scenes with tornadoes are bad, I did enjoy many of them, but it can be just a little unrealistic and off putting. I think the use of actual science to base scenes regressed when comparing “Twisters” to the original.
Overall, I would give the movie a 4 out of 5 stars because I did really enjoy the movie. Despite a few unrealistic scenes, the movie as a whole was enjoyable. The movie is regarded as a summer blockbuster and I think that fits well. Yes, there could have been parts that were made a little more realistic, but at the end of the day it is just a movie that is meant to inspire and entertain its audience, not educate. The movie immerses you in a well paced suspenseful plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I highly suggest watching “Twisters” for yourself.
