REVIEW: ‘Twisters’ has sufficient entertainment as stand-alone sequel

Most Americans enjoy a calm, cool summer breeze, but those winds are far too tranquil  for the characters in this film.

“Twisters” is, unsurprisingly, about tornadoes. It serves as a follow-up to the 1996 film “Twister” which starred Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. The new release stands on its own, though, outside of a few slight references.

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate, a meteorologist who gave up storm chasing because of a tragic incident, but returns to help her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) with a project. As they’re going about their work, they have run-ins with Tyler (Glen Powell), an internet influencer who streams his storm chases.

Directors who turned out Oscar nominated dramas in 2020 continue to follow-up their work with some entertaining genre films. David Fincher went from “Mank” to “The Killer” and Chloe Zhao moved from “Nomadland” to “Eternals.” Lee Isaac Chung is now on the same route, as “Twisters” comes after his endearing family drama “Minari.”

Considering the level of artistry with the characters and relationships in that film, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that a major strength of “Twisters” are the protagonists. The character work is on point in this disaster film, especially with the two lead characters in focus.

Kate and Tyler are fairly standard heroes for this type of movie. Brave, quick-witted, hints of cynicism and overall hearts of gold. The big question in most movies like this is are they executed right? The answer here is, yes. Both Kate and Tyler are quite likable, charismatic and have a good dynamic with each other.

Some of their moments can certainly get a bit hokey, a dramatic scene in the rain with Tyler wearing a tight white shirt being a prime example, but “Twisters” owns it, and makes it all part of the fun. Speaking of fun, I’m sure readers are probably wondering about the actual tornadoes that make up the big spectacle.

Many of them do in fact get the adrenaline pumping. There’s an especially good set piece where the heroes have to find a way to survive and do so in a pool not in use as a tornado approaches. One can definitely appreciate how the crew captured the chaos that can take place with storms that not only form quickly, but can cause all types of frightening scenarios.

With that said, the tornadoes this time around aren’t quite as suspenseful as they were in the original 90s film. Though I was a kid who was often worried about weather so take that criticism with a grain of salt. Overall, there’s entertainment here, but it doesn’t quite reach the highest level on the thrill meter.

A noticeable issue in “Twisters” is the situation with the supporting characters. Kate and Tyler each have their own teams here, and both are fine in their own right. However, there’s a forced rivalry between the two that doesn’t quite make sense.

There was a rivalry between the two storm chase teams in the original as well, but they had the same goal of studying the tornados with similar tech. Here, the two teams have really different objectives, so it doesn’t make as much sense for them to be completely at odds.

But as summer blockbusters go, “Twisters” isn’t too shabby at all. There have been disaster/action movies with more gusto, yet the film still has enough featured visually to keep a viewer enthralled while enjoying good characters portrayed by actors who inject plenty of charm. 3.7 out of 5.

Author: Matthew Liedke

Journalist and film critic in Minnesota. Graduate of Rainy River College and Minnesota State University in Moorhead. Outside of movies I also enjoy sports, craft beers and the occasional video game. View all posts by Matthew Liedke