It was only a matter of time. 1996’s Twister made too much money to stay on the IP shelf for too long. But since the only recurring thing here are the tornadoes, I had really high hopes for Twisters and its possibilities. So does the movie live up to the hype? Sometimes. I guess if you feel it, chase it (eg your excitement), as Tyler Owens says.
20 years on from 1996 Twisters, and Dorothy is still being used to help get data for storm chasers. The latest chaser we’re following is Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who wants to do more than just get data on tornadoes: she wants to see if she can actually stop them by removing their moisture supply. After a harrowing intro, we see that her first attempt in Oklahoma goes catastrophically wrong. Years later, Kate’s working in New York for the National Weather Services, still wrecked from what happened. A former fellow chaser Javi (Anthony Ramos) convinces Kate to come to Oklahoma again for a week of consulting work during the latest storm surge there. But those two aren’t the only game in town: YouTube sensation Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) and his Arkansas daredevils come flying in with their crazy energy and t-shirt sales, selling some crazy spectacle while Javi/Kate try to collect data.
So, this is wild. the director of Twisters is Lee Isaac Chung. What did that guy do? He made the opposite of Twisters: Minari, a lovely small film about immigrants in the deep south. You’d think Chung was probably going to excel at the little character moments, and struggle mightily with the big stuff. However, it’s reversed. The reason Twisters works is during the big moments, when a tornado enters the picture. The giant disaster machines are as big a marvel as they were in 1996: imposing, incredible forces of nature. Chung takes us across multiple settings to keep the interactions fresh and exciting. When in the middle of nowhere, we’re usually in motion in a car or running, following a twister across a deserted plain, getting great snapshots of tornadoes in movement. But the minute we enter civilization, it’s now a horror film, as the unstoppable force is about to completely level what the town hopes would be immovable objects like buildings or water towers. Chung not only gives us incredible images of how destructive tornadoes can be, when it gets close, we’re now on the ground with our stormchasing cast seeing how helpless and scared they are despite being around these funnels all the time.
I guess with all the worry Chung was gonna screw up the big stuff, it’s the story and characters that actually hold Twisters back. There’s this weird half-formed subplot about Javi’s motives that had promise but was executed terribly. We also learn nothing about Tyler’s minions other than they are his minions. i love Brandon Perea’s twitchy energy: give me like 3 minutes with him, or for the love of God give Sasha Lane 5 minutes to cook about why she’s chasin, she did lead a 3 hour American epic drama before. As for the leads, this might do for Daisy Edgar-Jones what it did for Helen Hunt. She’s the best part of this movie despite clearly not being from Oklahoma, acting level headed surrounded by crazy and giving a decent performance. Glen Powell is doing the movie star thing here: it’s not as interesting as Hit Man, but it’s a lot of fun and weirdly old fashioned in his performance. Anthony Ramos is given the most underwritten, thankless part, but he makes the most out of it, having more chemistry with Edgar-Jones than I think might have been written in the script.
But since most people will be there for spectacle, Twisters has got you covered. It’s mostly a lot of fun, and I got a kick out of Powell going full Texas…and Lee Isaac Chung trying to convince us Daisy Edgar-Jones is from Oklahoma. Swing and a miss there, my guy. I don’t recall too many 6 ft 8 inches white as snow girls living down there.