Glenn Powell holds on to Sasha Lane in “Twisters.” Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
From left, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell star in “Twisters.” Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones star in “Twisters.” Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos star in “Twisters.” Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) try to help the victims of the disaster. Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) — 1996s Twister It was a groundbreaking visual effects spectacle but was loved neither for its plot nor its characters. Tornadoeswhich opens in theaters Friday, now follows 28 years of similar effects and has not improved its storytelling.
Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) introduces her merry storm-chasing friends as they attempt to throw barrels of sodium polyacrylate into a tornado in an attempt to dispel the storm. Don’t get too attached to them because only Kate and Javi (Anthony Ramos) survive.
Advertising
Five years later, Kate is working for the National Weather Service when Javi returns with a new project. His current team wants to place military-grade tracking equipment in the paths of Oklahoma tornadoes to create 3D models of the storms.
The actors in Twister Movies have a responsibility to shout lines like “Go, go, go!” and give just enough science to justify the catastrophic scenes. Kate and Javi’s backstories are so formulaic that they make Twister’s divorce papers subplot seem like a Chinatown.
Kate has lost her edge since she feels guilty for putting her friends in danger years ago. Tornadoes It gives him such a shallow redemption arc that it’s hard to feel inspired.
Javi has a mysterious corporate sponsor with whom he holds several secret meetings. When the sponsor’s true intentions are revealed, they are absurdly evil. However, it takes a minor shouting a villain speech with twisted mustaches at the end to make it clear.
As Kate regains her strength to chase storms with Javi’s team, they compete against Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) and his team of “tornado sitters.” The sitters do stunts like launching fireworks into tornadoes and film it for YouTube so the film can also incorporate webcam footage of Tyler talking to the camera.
Tyler is a charismatic rival, if not an outright villain, and the only character with personality beyond his plot function. The film becomes a battle between science and reckless sport rather than science and nature, but the film isn’t interested in exploring either dynamic in depth.
Kate continues Helen Hunt’s character’s motivation to use science to create warning systems for approaching tornadoes, taking it a step further toward possible prevention. That was a subtle way of adapting nature to a three-act structure in 1996 and TornadoesThe screenwriters had no qualms about updating it.
Unfortunately, storms in Tornadoes They have less personality than the iconic sequences of the original. Now there are only people running away from the wind, large objects occasionally falling near them and some being sucked to death off-screen.
There are no flying cows that distinguish storms in Tornadoes.
From time to time, the characters pause in their efforts and stop to help victims of tornado disasters. It is a bit hypocritical that the film is a disaster porn movie, but pretends to genuinely care about victims of catastrophes.
So Twisteria It’s a faithful sequel that prioritizes spectacle over characters and story, just like its predecessor. Only now the spectacle isn’t what it used to be and the opportunity to improve has been abandoned.
Fred Topel, who studied film at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a critic for Rotten Tomatoes since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Film Critics Association since 2023. Read more about his work in Entertainment.
