Twisters is the summer blockbuster we all need in 2024, and it’s very nearly a perfect example of the genre with its violent CG tornadoes, a nonsensical love story, and the dirtbag charm that oozes from every pore of Glen Campbell. It’s the kind of film that has the audience exiting the theater and dreaming of walking to their trucks in cowboy boots to blare the film’s soundtrack as they peel out of the parking lot in search of a storm.
The film boasts a killer soundtrack with gems from up and comers such as Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Breland (featuring Shania Twain), as well as bangers by more established artists such as Miranda Lambert, Tyler Childers, and Luke Combs. It’s the best movie soundtrack I’ve experienced in years, I can’t remember the last time I left the theater and immediately searched for the soundtrack to a movie, let alone listened to it for the rest of the day!
Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate, a storm chaser who had a traumatic experience with an F5 tornado when she was in college, leaving her with residual trauma. Edgar-Jones was capable and complex enough to carry the film, though her British accent slipped a few times. Somehow Kate is convinced by one of her old friends to join a storm chasing team in the hopes of doing cutting edge research on a tornado with the ultimate goal of helping people. Kate and her new team encounter a cowboy storm chaser who is a YouTube sensation named Tyler, played by the actor who seems to play the lead in every movie this year, Glen Powell. Someone really wants to make Glen Powell a star and Twisters just may be the film to do so, the role really plays to his strength at acting as a narcissistic pretty boy. Maura Tierney (ER) made an appearance as Kate’s mother and her role brought warmth, some gravity, and a hit of nostalgia to the film.
The real star of the film was the series of tornados that we all came to see destroying the countryside and small towns from the safety of our theater seats, as they sucked people away into the chaos. This film did not disappoint, with at least 7 tornados before I lost count. The story became somewhat meta when a group of people sought shelter in a movie theater, and we watched on the screen as a tornado tore through the screen and ripped rows of huddled theater goers out of their seats. Having lived in Tornado Alley for nearly a decade and having watched a tornado tear through my backyard while I desperately attempted to get a video, this film provides a safe way to witness mother nature in all her destructive glory. It even has several scenes that deal with the grim realities of the aftermath of tornadoes providing a nice dose of reality that’s not always present in Hollywood films.
This film was action packed from beginning to end and gave film goers almost everything they want out of a blockbuster, except (spoiler alert) for a kiss between the two protagonists. But I think that only served to leave the audience wanting more. This sequel may get its own sequel some day! I know I have plans to see Twisters again in IMAX at a Jordan’s Furniture location near me. Because there’s nothing more surreal than watching cg tornadoes for 2 hours then winding my way through a furniture store to get to the exit. Twisters is the fulfillment of the promise of all of the cheesy tornado movies in the 90s, such as Twister, Night of the Twisters, and Tornado. It’s a rare sequel that’s as good as the original film.
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[…] Twisters (dir. by Lee Isaac Chung) […]