Twisters

I still remember really enjoying a screening of Into the Storm at the cinema on a day exactly ten years ago. That was a proper B-movie, using really first-rate tornado trappings and featuring horribly written one-dimensional characters. Twisters is the A-movie equivalent of that film. While it again delivers scenes like fire tornadoes and storm-chasing wild youtubers, it does so with an Amblin-like playfulness, adventure and a steady grip on creativity. Daisy Edgar-Jones carries it well on her shoulders, and the charismatic Glen Powell confirms his status as the biggest rising male movie star of our time. While this is a follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister, we don't see any “memoryberries” here, the only returning character is the Dorothy device and it's just enough. Twisters is the kind of refreshing summer fun that's often sorely lacking in cinemas, and even though the script could be picked apart piece by piece as catastrophic bullshit, I simply can’t be bothered. Call it guilty-pleasure if you want. (07/24/2024)

I went to see the new release of the week in theaters yesterday which is kind of being seen as a sequel to the 90's film Twister and it's not bad, but it didn't completely blow me away unfortunately. It was nice to see Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar Jones, who plays the sort of intelligent woman who figures everything out. Visually it's decent, I liked that it keeps things down to earth and there are no overblown CGI attractions or destruction, it's quite realistic, but there's not a lot of action and it could have been presented more impressively (there aren’t many buildings flying off, the body-count isn't high, either, and I expected the atmosphere to be a bit more unpleasant and intense). For me there were a few deaf spots, it doesn't have a very adrenaline pace and I wouldn't watch the film again, or I wouldn't mind at all if I kept the film until I got home, it wouldn't change the experience. Passable average and a plus for the fact that disaster movies don't come around much anymore, but maybe it's not my cup of tea. 6/10. (07/19/2024)

This sequel to the 1990s classic doesn't bring back familiar characters, but it does bring back a familiar style. Lee Isaac Chung conceived Twisters as a 90s disaster actioner that isn't afraid to be a little silly and naive for the sake of fun, relies on likable heroes and big action scenes with good visual effects, and realistically doesn't surprise with anything at all. For the two hours, however, it entertains very pleasantly. (07/16/2024)

Nowadays, good visual effects are more of a standard, not extraordinary as they were in the 90s, so the initial fascination is no longer there. Twister didn’t have many iconic shots (the flying cow), and when you remember it today, it feels “overdone”, so this film won't impress or surprise you with anything. And neither is the clichéd plot that brings nothing new and where you guess every scene ahead of time. The only saving grace is the central cast, who have a nice chemistry, although I have to say that I'm starting to get tired of Glen Powell's "wannabe sex appeal", and I've only seen him in three films so far. Maybe in his case it wouldn't hurt to try something different. (09/01/2024)

I know the original film from the 90s, of course, but I have never seen the whole thing, so I approached this modern "remake" without any dose of nostalgia, but also without expectations. I am a seeker of disaster movies in which untamed elements of nature play the main role, and I am glad that now and then there is a fine piece like Twisters. The film has a universally likable cast, with a great (at first glance) juxtaposition between the neat scientist Daisy Edgar-Jones and the badass tornado hunter Glen Powell. In this respect, I commend the filmmakers for pushing the romantic talk almost out of the picture. From a technical point of view, this is a supremely impressive film with evocative sound effects, which would be a sin not to see on the big screen, where films like this simply belong. Even the characters knew that cinema was the right space! (08/01/2024)