Twisters

'Twisters' is about what I expected, it's one I enjoyed. I'd say the action is an (albeit minor, relatively-speaking) improvement on the original, though I do think the characters and cast aren't quite as strong this time out. Overall, comparing the two, they probably level out to be honest, which is actually a good thing when you're talking about a sequel. Despite the aforementioned about those onscreen, I did still like the performances of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell - the latter is the best performer, in my opinion. With that said, hopefully Powell can get himself out of this typecast of 'overly cocky guy turns out to be sound' as it's getting a bit tiresome, even though I do really rate him as an actor.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that this long-delayed sequel to its 1996 blockbuster predecessor is not nearly as awful or hokey as I thought it would be. As a prototypical summertime popcorn movie, director Lee Isaac Chung’s latest hits every item on the checklist of requirements for what such a release should do, and, in that sense, it’s admittedly rather fun – to a point. With that said, however, there’s only so much belief that one can realistically suspend while watching this often-preposterous tale, one that frequently pushes the limits of silliness and credibility. As expected, the tornadoes are the real stars of this picture (and, arguably, justifiably so), while the film’s clichéd, largely monodimensional characters and often-clunky, highly implausible narrative take a dutiful back seat to what clearly (and deservedly) lies front and center. That’s not to say these other elements are completely overshadowed, but their inherently predictable qualities and general lack of imagination fail to set this film apart as something genuinely different, particularly from its precursor. That dearth of innovation is especially apparent, for example, where good ole boy storm chaser Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) is concerned, whose testosterone-soaked persona makes him look more like a reckless, simple-minded yokel than a character to be legitimately taken seriously as someone who might actually know something about cutting-edge meteorology. At the same time, though, by employing these qualities where Powell’s character is concerned, I’d contend that maybe the film should have played them up more, transforming this offering into more of a campy romp, an approach that might have helped to distinguish the picture more than haplessly trying to make it into something to be taken so seriously. In any event, “Twisters” may not be the disaster that it could have been, but, as disaster movies go, it could have been better with a little less predictability, a lot less cliché and considerably more originality.

A tragedy forces meteorologist "Kate" (Daisy Edgar-Jones) back into the office where she spends her days monitoring weather events and advising on whether or not twisters may emerge and issuing any necessary alerts. Another of her erstwhile coleagues, "Javi" (Anthony Ramos) shows up with some military-grade technology that can be used to 3-D plot the phenomenon and that gets her back out into the field. That's where she encounters "Tyler" (Glen Powell) - he's a "tornado wrangler" who uses his guts to drive as close as he can to get great images for his lucrative You Tube channel. Her designs are more altruistic, though. She wants to map the things so she can develop a plan to seed them with super-absorbent polymers that will hopefully stop them in their tracks. A gently competitive scenario now develops between the two, but that is soon changed when she discovers that one of their backers in really in it for the fire-sale value of properties devastated by the sheer power of the twisters, and - of course - the remainder of the plot follows lines way more predicable than that of the whirlwind. It's really more of a whirlwind of another sort that takes over and that's a bit of a shame as it shows up the limitations Powell as an actor. Sure, he's the boy next door you wouldn't kick out of bed for eating Pringles, but here he's about as wooden as a washboard. Edgar-Jones isn't a great deal better and the writing seems uncertain as to whether we are to watch an action-packed adventure film or a cheesy romance with some contrived moralising thrown in for good measure. To be fair, there is an attempt at bringing some science into the story and the visual effects are genuinely exciting to watch as these amazing forces of nature wreak their havoc despite man's best efforts. It's a bit on the long side, but it's still perfectly watchable especially if you can appreciate the visual on a big screen. It's just a bit disappointing.

Did you know that this movie had a diverse cast with a strong female lead? I didn't... and when I say that I mean I sat through the movie, left the theater, and didn't know it had a diverse case with a strong female lead until my wife pointed it out. But wait, there is more.... I didn't want to see Twisters. In fact I rolled my eyes at that... until the director said that they weren't going to make it about Climate Change. I mean, that really got my hopes up. That made it sound like it was just going to be a movie about tornadoes. So, I figured I'd give it a shot and.... it was just a movie about tornadoes.... seriously. It was like the first one, and let's face it, you didn't see the first one because you thought the plot was interesting, you saw the first one because you wanted to see a movie about tornadoes destroying a lot of crap and that is exactly what it delivered. And that is exactly what Twisters delivers. Is there political lecturing? No. Is there lecturing about climate change? No. Is there lectures about being Gay? No. Is there lectures about diversity? No. Is there lectures about feminism? No. Does it make a point that all white people are evil? No. Does it make a point that all men are evil? No. Does it make a point that Christianity is evil? No. Does it have a villain that is supposed to be Donald Trump? No. WOW... Just WOW. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. I haven't seen a movie that didn't check off that many boxes since 2016. It says NOTHING. It's a movie about... Twisters and that is all. Seriously. It's just a fun entertaining movie. It gave me everything that I want in movies. It his my two most important check boxes. Is the movie fun? YES!!!! Is the movie Entertaining? YES!!!!! Those two things are all twisters gave me and that is all I ever ask for. They made a movie I want to watch, I want to watch movies like this so I can be entertained, and the movie entertained me. THANK YOU, now make more movies that actually try to entertain people. DOWN WITH LECTURES, UP WITH ENTERTAINMENT! GIVE US ESCAPISM!!! GIVE US FUN!!!! MAKE MORE MOVIES LIKE THIS!!!!! We will give you money for it.

Taking the ridiculous to a new level, the disaster spectacle “Twisters” falls short in delivering a compelling story to match its go big or go home premise. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the movie plunges viewers into a relentless tornado “outbreak,” setting the stage for a half-baked sequel that’s so stupid, it’s actually a challenge to suspend disbelief. Former storm chaser Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is haunted by an encounter with a killer tornado while she was in college in Oklahoma. It was a disastrous day, and she continues to live with survivor’s guilt years later. Now living in New York City, she is lured back into the field by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) with the promise of testing a groundbreaking new storm tracking and mapping system. The science-minded pair meet the reckless, renegade storm chaser and social media superstar Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who seems more concerned about getting views and likes rather than contributing anything meaningful. But as the storm season quickly intensifies, there is a scary proliferation of deadly tornadoes that leave nothing but devastation in their path. Amidst it all, Kate and Tyler find themselves competing to be the first to document each funnel for entirely different reasons. All of this is so dumb. There’s no reason for these people to be racing to get to the tornado first, but Chung tries to create a sense of urgency and drama by pitting them against each other. The plot is straightforward: see tornado, chase tornado, repeat. While this tried-and-true formula offers fleeting thrills, it quickly becomes tedious. There’s only so much humans can do to fight back at killer forces of nature, and there are laughably idiotic scenarios like a character shooting fireworks into the funnel of a tornado just to see if he can. Most of the film is divided between show-stopping tornado “attacks” and Powell making lovey-dovey eyes at the camera (we get it: he’s good looking)! I suppose there’s no arguing the fact that everyone loves an easy-on-the-eyes tornado wranglin’ hunk, but even his charm can’t carry the movie. The film’s science is absolutely laughable, with tornadoes depicted as nearly sentient forces capable of reducing buildings to rubble in seconds and sucking humans into the sky while somehow sparing people’s hats. The special effects, and especially the sound design, are impressive, creating a visceral experience of the storms’ fury. The action sequences may be visually striking, but they lack the originality and impact needed to make them memorable. What’s fun about seeing people’s homes destroyed and lives ruined? Disaster film fans may be a bit more lenient in unearthing more to enjoy about “Twisters” than I did, because I found it to be big, loud, and dumb. Those attributes can be satisfying if they’re executede well and the story at the core of the movie is good, but this one is not. It’s heavy on the mindless, light on the fun. By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

I dislike this movie. I found it boring and long. So many stupid people screaming. So much noise. So much garbage. So little excitement. I liked how targeted towards the prairies it is. Just a bunch of good old country folk. Drivin' truck. Goin' to rodeos. Playin' baseball. Sufferin' in poverty and losin' property. Yeehaw.

I think I need to rewatch the old movie because I cannot remember if it was this ridiculous or not. I see there are two; the one with Bill Paxton that I think I remember and an even older one with muh boi, Crispin Glover that I didn't know exist. So, what's wrong with this movie? Well, besides killing off Kiernan Shipka in the first 15 minutes, everything, everything is wrong (I'm exaggerating slightly) - I thought I was watching a disaster movie, instead it's a weirdly cobbled together romance movie. MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD 1. Javi is written as an unintentional antagonist and it's kinda dumb. Furthermore, the issue between Javi and Kate is also never really addressed. They both lost their friends and for all intents and purposes it appears Kate built up walls around herself, left town and never looked back. Both of these characters have had to live with and deal with the loss of their friends but in the scene when Javi snaps at Kate, it's hard not to take Javi's side, and we're meant to take Kate's side because the movie follows Kate. Javi is barely in it. The scene that follows between Tyler and Kate felt like it should've been between Javi and Kate, minus the romance because we don't actually need romance in everything. 2. They went a little too far with "reckless Tyler" in those first few scenes where diving Javi and Kate off the road is played for laughs. No one ever brings it up and Javi even pulls the same stunt with Tyler and Kate during the final act. These people are all supposed to be sensible adults. 3. Apart from mini-boss Scott, Javi's team of trained specialists have no personality or character development and are given barely any screen time compared to Tyler's ragtag storm-wrangling group. We're meant to see Tyler's group as cool because "oh whoa, they actually know something!" while we never get to know the team of people who could probably blow your mind with their combined knowledge. 4. My biggest issue with this movie is the two "opposing" groups. Javi claims to be doing this for science so we can better understand tornadoes so we can help people, and Tyler's here to help people by being social media famous, selling merchandise and giving out food. They both have the same goal, or claim to, and their different tech and methods of storm chasing could compliment each other, so why the unnecessary animosity, especially from Tyler's group, who, if we're being honest, aren't really doing that much. Tyler mentions a supercomputer at one point and I have to wonder what exactly have they been using this supercomputer access for all this time? If these two clowns worked together, they could've successfully scanned a tornado before the events of this movie. ANYWAY... LET'S GET TO THE JUICY PART OF MY "REVIEW"! "Is there political lecturing? No. Is there lecturing about climate change? No. Is there lectures about being Gay? No. Is there lectures about diversity? No. Is there lectures about feminism? No. Does it make a point that all white people are evil? No. Does it make a point that all men are evil? No. Does it make a point that Christianity is evil? No. Does it have a villain that is supposed to be Donald Trump? No." What do you suppose Kate's mom was talking about when she mentioned more and more bad weather? Bigots are comically silly, I swear! Swine says they came to watch tornadoes destroy things but somehow missed all the colored people and women on the screen who feel like they take up the majority of the runtime. There's never consistency with these people, is there? I came to watch a disaster movie and all I left with was the thought that I should've just watched The Day After Tomorrow (2004) again because at least that movie had compelling people drama. The funnier bit is if you read the recent reviews online on that old Bill Paxton movie, there are quite a few complaining that this new movie is woke and shoving agendas down your throat, so either Swine is being comically sarcastic or they're full of it. Like Tyler, I can't really tell. Do bigots like it because Kate gets with Tyler at the end instead of Javi? It really does seem this simplistic and silly when simply seeing a colored person on screen usually triggers them into spiraling out of control with calls to "boycott the woke DEI agenda movie!"

Good movie. No political propaganda, thank god. No unnecessary sex scenes either. I enjoyed this movie. Was pretty decent.