'Twisters' review: Funneling science, action and romance into a wonderfully mindless adventure
Every tornado in “Twisters” acts like a conscious being who targets individuals one by one and sucks them into oblivion, not unlike the shark in “Jaws” or the “Jean Jacket” alien in “Nope” or the Sandworms in the “Dune” movies. One minute you’re seeking shelter under a viaduct or flooring the accelerator on your pickup truck or running for your life down Main Street — and then POOF! POW! ZING! The great twirling and swirling beast will pull you into its grasp like an evil spirit lurking under the bed in a horror film. You’re gone baby gone.
We hear lots of technical jargon from the various meteorologists and storm chasers and Ph.D.s from NASA and FEMA in director Lee Isaac Chung’s fantastically entertaining albeit utterly ridiculous and at times bombastic “Twisters,” and I’m sure a good deal of it is rooted in reality. (I mean, at one point an “expert” tells everyone to stay away from windows during a tornado, which we all learned in third grade, right?)
Still, once yet another massive event strikes during “a once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak” ripping through the Plains, we’re plunged into a full-bore, old-school disaster movie that pays homage to many of the central themes of Jan de Bont’s 1996 “Twister” but is a stand-alone sequel. It’s just called “Twisters” because it exists in the “Twister” universe, I suppose, and there are more twisters this time around.
And more twists in the plot, though you’ll be able to spot them with the acumen of a storm chaser who can use a dandelion as a barometer and instantly predict weather patterns, and yes, that’s an actual scene in “Twisters” and it’s based on real science, so there! Grab your popcorn and your beverage, settle into your seat and turn off your phone AND your brain, and “Twisters” will deliver two hours of mindless, exciting, action-packed entertainment.
The British actress Daisy Edgar-Jones affects a generic American accent and delivers solid albeit occasionally bland work as Kate Cooper, a brilliantly talented meteorologist who has taken a safe desk job with a New York-based weather service after a daring, experimental effort to somehow “tame” tornadoes resulted in tragedy.
Kate is out of the storm-chasing game — until her former colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos) shows up and says he has acquired new technology that can alter storm science forever and save lives. Javi has assembled a highly sophisticated team of experts and has a wealthy backer; all he needs now is Kate and her almost magical “Storm Whisperer” abilities.
Off we go to Tornado Alley in Oklahoma, where half the storm chasers in the world, from sophisticated teams to freelance yahoos, have gathered. (It’s like the landlocked version of the scene in “Jaws” when all those idiots in their overmatched vessels took to the waters in hopes of landing the big guy.)
The rock star of the bunch is Glen Powell’s Tyler Owens, aka “The Tornado Wrangler,” who looks like he stepped out of a Budweiser ad, has a wildly popular YouTube series and has assembled a team of rebels and outcasts who are forever exclaiming, “Wooooo!” and “Woohoooo!” when it’s time to get storm chasing. Why, you’d be hard-pressed to find rivals more different than the science-obsessed, uptight Kate and the rogue cowboy Tyler! There’s no chance they’ll strike up any kind of connection once they learn more about one another. None whatsoever.
“Twisters” has a nice little interlude that gives us a chance to catch our breath when Kate returns home after a prolonged absence and reunites with her mother (Maura Tierney), who apparently has been running a fairly sizable family farm by herself and yet still has time to whip up an idyllic sunset picnic table dinner when that rascal Tyler comes a-calling. Mom is the real hero in this story!
Mostly, though, this is all about the tornadoes, and while the VFX can be almost overwhelming, there are a number of impressively rendered sequences — though it’s kind of curious that in this fictional universe, few establishments in Tornado Alley seem to have basements or shelters, and people don’t seem to realize that they should “Run!” or “Take cover!” until the movie stars show up. (There are scenes in which the geeky Kate turns into a full-on action star, just like Tom Cruise in “War of the Worlds.”)
Working from a script by Mark L. Smith (based on a story by Joseph Kosinski, who was originally in line to helm the film), director Chung has a much bigger canvas than he worked with in the beautifully filmed 1980s immigrant tale “Minari,” and he leans into the Americana elements here, with separate tornadoes striking during a baseball game, a rodeo and a revival movie house showing of the 1931 “Frankenstein," which continues to play even as the walls start crumbling."Twisters” is hokey and dumb, but spectacular fun.