When a follow-up to the 1996 movie was first announced it seemed to some to be either a long overdue or potentially unnecessary reboot or sequel. Thankfully “Twisters” surpasses expectations because not only does it give audiences a rousing summer adventure film loaded with dazzling special effects and sound, but it also provides a solid character-driven story that exceeds what is usually given to audiences in films of this type.
The film does not follow events from the first film in the way that one might expect as it is simply a new generation of storm chasers who have no connection to the characters or the events of the first film. Five years after a tragic encounter, Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), is living in New York City and has left her days of chasing tornadoes behind her. Her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) convinces Kate to give him one week chasing storms as he wishes to deploy a new mobile version of military-grade radar in the attempt to get a three-sided scan of the twister for the first time.
Kate reluctantly agrees seeing that she is something of a Tornado Savant in that she’s able to predict the location of storms far better than others and soon has Javi’s team on the path to completing their mission.
Along the way they encounter Internet celebrity Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who leads a rock ‘n roll style crew that seem to be more obsessed with coverage, followers, and sensationalism than they do with the science and the ultimate goal of saving lives.
Kate has PTSD from her earlier encounters which leads to complications and helps her discover that Tyler is actually very well-versed and trained about this topic and he uses his celebrity in areas that one might not expect.
This all leads to a series of discoveries, personal growth, and an abundance of devastating storms as the key players look to learn more about the deadly force of nature and how their actions can truly make a difference.
As I stated earlier; the film has some amazing effects and sequences it is at its heart a character-driven story and the three leads work extremely well with one another I truly enjoyed the fact that the movie largely avoided many of the Hollywood clichés for the inter-character dynamics.
From start to finish the film engages and entertains and proves that you can make an FX-driven summer blockbuster that is still a character-driven story that holds your attention from start to finish.
4 stars out of 5
