Twisters

Kate Carter, played by Daisy Edgar Jones, is a meteorologist who used to be a storm chaser, but after a devastating encounter with a tornado that saw her lose her close friends, she stepped away from the peril.  However when another of the survivors of that encounter, Javi (Anthony Ramos), convinces her to join him and his research team for Storm Par as they look at modelling how storms start in an attempt to find a way to break them and prevent life threatening destruction, she finds herself facing up to her trauma of the past.  Along the way, other storm chasers are gathered for the thrill and/or the science of the outbreak of tornados, including hotheaded video blogger Tyler Owens (Glenn Powell), aka “The Tornado Wrangler” who recklessly drives into storms, seemingly for entertainment.  However, Kate soon finds that there is more to Tyler than the surface shows, whilst also discovering that Javi is also covering up some secrets, all the while storms rip devastating paths through communities that the groups are trying to help.

Much like the first film, Twisters is a spectacle disaster film that is packed with tornado destructive thrills, which will no doubt please a popcorn fuelled audience.  But again, like the first film, what would otherwise be unmemorable and generic blockbuster fare is elevated somewhat by the central cast.  In the original it was Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton who provided the central heart for us to latch onto, and whilst the overall film was average at best, their performances more than picked things up (not forgetting the great Philip Seymour Hoffmanas Dusty, who stole every moment he could).  Here it is Powell and Edgar-Jones who keep us engaged, with their initial rivalry slowly paving way for a connection between the pair being used as a wonderful showcase of both their star presences.  Tyler’s entourage who plan and record his antics are no substitute for Seymour-Hoffman, but they each lend some fun and some more level headed humanity to the events.

Twisters is a crowd pleaser film that delivers exactly what you expect from it.  Spectacle and thrills, whilst a little basic on plot, but with a solid core cast that it is impossible to not get swept up with.  See it on the biggest screen you can, and just enjoy the thrill ride – even if it is highly unlikely you will really care to revisit it again any time soon.  Much like the first film, this will wind up being one of those films that you only rewatch when you accidentally stumble on it whilst changing channels.