A One Mann’s Movies review of “Twisters” (2024).
You’ve queued a little over 2 hours in the Florida sun for this. The announcer says “Welcome to Twisters. The lapbar will come down automatically. Please stand clear of the closing doors. Por favor, mantenganse allejado de las puertas”.
We jerk forwards. “Ooh… look kids… here comes the tornado. BOOM… ARGHH!… the fire explosion – heat on your face – with the flames being spectacularly sucked up into the the vortex. Oh wow! Look the trolley bus is crashing past us, all out of control. And now that water tower is falling over. A wave of overly-chlorinated water pours down, getting us all drenched. (Thank heavens it’s so hot here in Florida and we’ll dry quickly.) Oh look – now we’re moving into a movie theater showing a black and white Frankenstein film. OH NO! … the roof is collapsing… and now the cinema screen is being blown out and there’s the tornado again and chickens flying around! But what’s this… Daisy Edgar-Jones (or someone looking very like her) roars up in a big red jeep, deploys some gubbins and the tornado dissipates. Phew.” (Everyone in the car claps). The announcer says “We hope you have enjoyed Twisters, The Ride. Remember: Don’t Face Your Fears…. Chase Them!”
There were moments in this film where I genuinely thought “They’re having a laugh!”. This is such a ridiculous set up for the new ride currently being developed, no doubt, at Universal Studios Orlando. And, yes. It would make a great ride. As a film though… meh… not so much.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
After a traumatic tornado-based experience, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is reviewing nice, safe meteorology from New York City. But the “city-girl” gets convinced to return to Arkansas by her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) and the pair find themselves chasing tornados again, head-to-head with cocky “tornado-wrangler” Tyler (Glen Powell) who is primarily in it for Youtube hits and merchandise sales.
Certification:
UK: 12; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC web site: “Moderate threat, injury detail”.)
Talent:
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Maura Tierney, Harry Hadden-Paton, Sasha Lane, Daryl McCormack.
Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung.
Written by: Mark L. Smith. (Based on a story by Joseph Kosinski.)
Twitter Handle: #Twistersmovie
Running Time: 2h 2m.
“Twisters” Summary:
Positives:
- Impressive special effects and production design.
- Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are a good team.
Negatives:
- Pretty much a rehash of the 1996 original but with no sense of peril.
- Pace slows to a soggy crawl outside the action scenes.
- The actions of the protagonists make little sense.
Review of “Twisters”:
Back to 1996.
Jan de Bont’s “Twister” in 1996 paired Helen Hunt and a square-jawed Bill Paxton and saw them chasing tornados in the interest of scientific research. (Oh, and Jo (Helen Hunt) has a traumatic, tornado-based, backstory.) Along the way they battle a competing team (led by a cocky Cary Elwes) and we laugh at the dangerous antics of a young group of film-makers (who I remember as “You-tubers” but who can’t be since the company didn’t exist until 2005! Or am I getting this confused with another film altogether!?)
Roll forwards 28 years, and “Twisters” is pretty much a remake of that film, but with better special effects. I’ll grant you also that Daisy Edgar-Jones is lively and likeable and the ever-present Glen Powell again extends his film-star persona: he’s having a very solid year.
A remake, but not nearly as good.
Sadly, despite the best efforts of the cast and the crew, a lot of this left me unmoved. During the action sequences, perhaps with the exception of the opening sequence, I never felt there was any real peril. The IMDB categorisation is “Action/Adventure/Thriller”, but I don’t think I was really “thrilled” once. The nearest I got was in the finale when Tyler screws two anchors into airport tarmac – “Oh! That’s fun” I thought and then reflected that the feeling was a novelty!
In between the action the plot becomes becalmed and really not very interesting. Given the director is Lee Isaac Chung of “Minari” fame, I would have expected these quieter, more reflective and personal moments to have more bite. But no. Nice to see Maura Tierney again though, playing Kate’s Mum.
Curiously, the film – as far as I can see – appears to make no throwback to the original film, other than the presence of the “Dorothy” contraption with its load of little flying measuring globes. There’s no explanation as to how or why this came into their possession. I half expected Helen Hunt to pop up in a cameo as the grieving mother of one of the slain youths… but no.
What ARE they doing?
So these teams are supposed to be doing serious scientific work to find a tornado-killing mechanism and save thousands of homes and hundreds of people’s lives. So what do they do when they are in the position to take their measurements and pursue the answer? They up-sticks and run to a local town to “help people”… not once, but TWICE!! The first time, after the impact, they seem to be doing nothing in particular. The second time they just run around shouting at people… as if there were not a bunch of other leaders doing the same thing. It’s nonsensical.
No cows.
Honestly! They only had one thing to do… show us more flying cows. What’s a “Twister” film without flying cows… it’s their trademark. Chickens??? Who wants chickens?
Summary Thoughts on “Twisters”
It’s a dumb popcorn movie and it seems to be attracting a lot of dumb popcorn munchers: the Monday afternoon screening I went to was surprisingly full. (Looking at the box office, it failed to knock “Despicable Me 4” off the top spot, but it is still doing decent business.) I’m afraid though that it was little more than “OK” for me. A mildly diverting 2 hours, but I felt like it should have been so much better.
The illustrious Mrs Movie Man – who classes “Twister” as one of her favourite action movies – was a lot less forgiving about the movie. “It says something when I’m hankering to watch the original” she said.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “Twisters”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm27YjLnPHc .
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