Chris Kavan's Movie Review of Twisters (2024)

Symphony of Destruction
Chris Kavan - wrote on 07/28/24

The original Twister is a 90s-era classic disaster film directed by Jan de Bont (hot off the heels of another 90s classic Speed) and starring Helen Hunt along with the taken far-too-early Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman - along with Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz and Alan Ruck. Fast-forward to 2024 and we get Twisters - not exactly a direct sequel but certainly a spiritual successor with Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones leading the way.

Twisters is a more amped-up version of the original - with better technology the film certainly delivers on the action front with tornadoes that are amazing. But the disaster part of the film can only get you so far - and lucky for us Powell, the most "it" Hollywood actor right now, nails the part of the more gonzo YouTube tornado wrangler Tyler and his fun-loving team Boone (Brandon Perea), drone-flying Lily (Sasha Lane) the academic Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe) and a ride-along UK reporter Ben (Harry Hadden-Paton). On the other side, Edgar-Jones is the woman with plan and nose for weather patterns, Kate - who has all but given up on field work after most of her team was killed in an earlier experiment gone wrong. The only other survivor was Javi (Anthony Ramos) who approaches her years later with an opportunity to make a difference.

Ramos and his more corporate team want to harness new technology to essentially 3D scan a tornado while Kate is still holding out hope that a chemical reaction can still stop a tornado in its tracks. Both teams descend upon Oklahoma during an unprecedented weather event that promises plenty of tornadic action. Of course the two teams immediately butt heads but it turns out Tyler has some deeper motivation going on while Javi is hiding a dirty little secret. But it's the sparks between these characters - you know, along with some awesome special effects - that drive the film and make it an instant summer must-see.

While its still hard to match the original, Twisters at least manages to hold its own. About the biggest complaint I have is that the first film had a better soundtrack (unless you're more into country). And while the film touches on the destruction left behind and the people affected, I still think they could have done more with this angle. In the End, Twisters is summer action film that delivers and should join the original to that effect.