Twisters

Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Sasha Lane, David Corenswet, Katy O'Brien, Maura Tierney Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka

Director: Lee Issac Chung

Five years after losing her friends and research partners in a freak tornado storm, Kate (Edgar-Jones) finds herself retired and working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in New York City. She gets a surprise visit from Javi (Ramos), the only other survivor from years prior, who asks her to join his company Storm Par as they try to use military technology to make a 3D scan of a tornado. Although she is initially apprehensive to join Javi due to her fear of seeing people she cares about getting hurt, she finds herself back in Oklahoma and ready to help her friend. Much to her surprise, storm chasing has really taken off, thanks to YouTube sensation and self proclaimed tornado wrangler Tyler Owens (Powell). Kate and Storm Par begin a rivalry with Owens, who will literally drive his truck into a tornado just to see if he can launch fireworks from inside one. While Kate wants to stick by Javi, she soon learns Storm Par may be up to more than they are letting on and must rely on Tyler in order to survive and overcome her fears.

I have been waiting for this sequel for a long time and the fact that it took this long for a sequel to finally grace the big screen is unfortunate. I was ten years old when Twister came out in 1996 and I remember being in awe of its high octane and thrilling sequences of nature driven chaos. I think I saw it at least five times in the theater but hadn't revisited it in quite some time. I rewatched it in anticipation of this coming out and was actually amazed at how well it held up, not only visually but also just as a simple summer blockbuster. Remember when blockbusters used to be simple?!?

So how did this long-gestating sequel do?

First and foremost, it keeps the connections to the 1996 film very subtle. Because I had watched it recent;y, I was able to catch a good bit of the connections. I actually appreciated that the movie didn't go out of its way too much and was allowed to be its own stand alone film.

In terms of the scenes of destruction, it's quite effective. The visuals themselves are top notch, adding a real sense of tension to the chaos. It does this from the opening scene, which plays out more like a horror flick, to the jaw dropping finale as our heroes attempt to save a town from a rapidly approaching EF5 Tornado. It honestly had me on the edge of my seat and reminded me why I enjoyed the original. While there is nothing iconic like the flying cow, there is still a lot that will appease old and new fans. I give credit to director Lee Issac Chung, who makes quite the pivot from his last feature the Oscar nominated Minari, for bringing a real sense of danger and excitement to the film.

Nothing is going to beat the chemistry between Bill Paxton (RIP) and Helen Hunt. It's a hard thing to fake and a lot of people tend to confuse chemistry with charisma. In this film, Daisy Edgar-Jones and up and coming star Glen Powell have charisma for days but they don't actually have a lot of on screen chemistry. I was rooting for their characters to survive but not to get together. I would have much preferred to keep their characters platonic. It's a minor issue I have with the movie but one that I feel did hamper some of my enjoyment. The rest of the cast is fantastic, especially two scene stealers in Brandon Perea and Maura Tierney. Perea just gives the film an energy (much like he did in 2022's Nope) and Tierney gives the film a sense of humor and warmth in a key role that helps us understand Kate a lot better.

I do have to single out Anthony Ramos's character Javi. It feels like they changed the direction they were taking his character multiple times during filming which left his character feeling under developed and all over the place. It all concludes in a character arc that ultimately makes sense for his character but it doesn't feel earned. Its not Ramos' fault. He brings a considerable amount of charisma to Javi but his character just felt off.

Despite my issues, this was everything I wanted out of a blockbuster like this and I think more blockbusters should take notes from not only the original Twister but also this energetic and entertaining sequel.

Grade: B+