It is quite possible that you were dismissive of the title Twisters, when its teaser was played during this year’s Super Bowl. “Really? They just added an ‘S’ and that is it for today?” And yes, viewing Broadway actors like Daisy Edgar-Jones or Anthony Ramos and more recently Glen Powell, who have done better and more edgy films, seeming to ‘sell their souls’ to do a over the top summer film in the spirit of the Warner Bros and Universal Pictures team-up blockbuster nearly three decades ago, is enough to raise the blood pressure of highbrow cinephiles everywhere.
To avoid any concerns, let’s first understand that the original Twister is really worth looking back on, regardless of whether you feel the urge to watch this version. No, you will not discover Helen Hunt or the late Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman in Twisters but then again, the introduced characters do give strangely rich performances that are quite seriously the adverse of the trailers so far released. No for those facepalming because Glen Powell looks all cowboy hat clad in the trailers, is this another Top Gun: Maverick performance in a different costume? Well talking about Tom Cruise, he is a fan of Twisters, which is already a plus. And most likely, you will be as well. It is a classic summer action blockbuster done quite well.
Twisters is yet to have a better standing than other remakes from the Universal Pictures house – the Jurassic saga. Groot has been badwadded, but he does not seem bothered. Beginning from the first Jurassic World, the overall vibe was way too campy and pretentious, assuring the viewers that the young and some dashing central figures were absolutely safe, and none of them would be eaten by some angry ass dinos.
Years later, Twisters comes along and, at the very start of the movie, there is a very considerable prologue that keeps the audience in awe of which character will manage to survive this anchor tornado and which one wouldn’t live on to regale the tale. ‘This is someone who is willing to chase a tornado.’ It’s downright horrifying as tornado chaser Kate (Edgar-Jones) and her motley crew set out on their mission, a fatal plan to test out her new toy, which, if used well and at the right time, may even able to extinguish certain tornadoes.
Fast forward half a decade and it is not exactly what was intended. Eager balboas of ant manor age jumping five years later, Kate’s old pal and colleague, the Cesar boy, Javi (the reliably sharp Anthony Ramos), has found her and wants to see if she will attempt ‘ chasing’ again after their past tragedy five years ago. This is where Glen Powell, who is called the next Cary Grant of Hollywood, enters the frame along with the spirit of the first film. Apparently, there is some sort of rivalry about who can chase tornadoes out there, with fictional YouTube treat Tyler Owens (Powell) even branding himself as a tornado ‘wrangler’.
The accompanying Javi to his risky new job collecting data on tornadoes for a vile power broker, is at the same time welcomed back by her long-time friend Kate, who had left for her native state Oklahoma. He is instead brought up to speed on Kate’s talent as a tornado predictor, as Cary Elwes did by tailed Helen Hunt in the 1996 original film three years into Kate’s adventures The Twister.
That sounds very much like some so-called plain action, and yes, it is, as a matter of fact. And of course, as it happens with such extravagant popcorn flicks, the rising action and anticipation preceding the payoff may well have been cut down, most likely by up to about 15 minutes, give and take. But even so, it all gets fairly generous with a gruesomely unexpected ending that even becomes meta (you will see) in thrilling fairness as the last tornado hits a devastated Oklahoma town. Those clever little twists in the plot may just make you want to stand up and cheer at the screen, these ones are well-deployed dramatic moments, you know.
For the large part, it’s non-stop fun; if one cannot manage to pull off the IMAX experience, watching this bad boy in any theater is probably the next best thing. You might look again at Lee Isaac Chung is the Twister’s director thinking, who takes a big leap and directs his first real budget crasher after the success of the award splendour Minari (2020). Did he want to take on the challenge? We would think so.
And no wonder, Joseph Kosinski who directed Top Gun: Maverick has a story credit on Twisters by the way. Whether there was any sort of contribution from such people in terms of direction or not, there are no two ways about it that the action and the superb visuals, which come right into your face and do not let you shout ‘green screen’ for most of the time than the bulk of it will offer you quite a whole lot in terms of thrills.
Chung is in sync with Dan Mindel, the DoP who has almost always served as the choice of J.J. Abrams especially working with the Star Wars films, Star Trek, and Mission Impossible 3. In the series, those terrifying moments when shaking handheld cameras frame signature characters which you sincerely believe are going to tumble due to Mother Nature are quite well captured. And you don’t want them to, snatched as they mostly are, by engaging actors. Young Edgar-Jones here makes sure that she cements her position among Hollywood A list stars. Powell is already there, though haters will not find anything different to like about this eye blinking, magazine cover promising performance.
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