Twisters (12A)

Former storm chaser Kate Cooper studies storm patterns from the safety of New York City following a traumatic encounter with a tornado during her college years. Good friend Javi lures her back into the field to test a groundbreaking 3D mapping system. Kate encounters social media star Tyler Owens, who recklessly chases storms with his crew and gleefully posts their daredevil exploits. As multiple storm systems converge over central Oklahoma, Kate and Tyler witness terrifying phenomena.

LondonNet Film Review

Twisters (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Lee Isaac Chung, Oscar-nominated writer-director of the beguiling drama Minari, battens down the hatches to helm a bombastic sequel to the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Almost 30 year later, digital effects have improved significantly but the storytelling in Mark L Smith’s script takes a couple of steps back, refurbishing character archetypes and set pieces from the first film transplanted to a social media-fixated age of wanton self-promotion. Dutch director Jan de Bont was coming off the back of Speed starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock when he took the helm of the Oscar-nominated original film, which sucked almost 500 million dollars out of the global box office…

Twisters should comfortably surpass that milestone, promising spectacular destruction including a tornado bearing down on a cinema packed with terrified civilians, but Chung’s sequel reserves disappointingly little puff for character development. The first iteration compelled us to care about storm chasers because of deep familial ties between Helen Hunt’s heroine and her aunt living in Wakita, Oklahoma, coupled with a smouldering romance between the heroine and her estranged husband (Bill Paxton). Screenwriter Smith trades heavily on nostalgia, reviving the Dorothy tornado instrumentation for a pre-opening credits salvo soaked in tragedy.

If anyone could conceivably charm Mother Nature into submission it would be man of the moment Glen Powell and he works hard to generate on-screen fireworks with Daisy Edgar-Jones. Their pairing repeatedly takes a back seat to eye-popping pyrotechnics and co-star Anthony Ramos in squandered in a thankless supporting role as the third point of a flimsily constructed love triangle with one inevitable outcome. Former storm chaser Kate Cooper (Edgar-Jones) studies meteorological patterns from the relative safety of New York City, five years after a traumatic close encounter with a tornado. Good friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) woos her back into the field to test a groundbreaking 3D mapping system during tornado season in Oklahoma.

The unpredictable weather attracts social media star Tyler Owens (Powell) and his crew, who recklessly chase storms for clicks and followers. “You don’t face your fears, you ride ’em!” Tyler beams at Kate. A terrified British journalist (Harry Hadden-Paton) shadows Tyler for an article as weather systems converge over the state, which Kate’s mother Cathy (Maura Tierney) conveniently calls home.

Twisters is a muscular but uninspired reworking of an era-defining blockbuster that injected humour into the eye of the storm courtesy of flying cows. Chickens are caught in the dizzying whirl here and the absence of ruffled feathers is a perfect metaphor for the confident manner with which Chung’s sequel goes through the meteorological motions. Cast twist and turn but it’s nothing to shout about.

– Sarah Lee