Summer 2024 has seen a series of big-budget blockbusters hyped for months and then opening to disappointing reviews and lackluster audience attendance. “Inside Out 2” had enough heart and soul to build a steady draw of appreciative crowds of young and old alike. Now “Twisters” has stormed the box office to earn the biggest opening weekend numbers at over $80 million.
A sequel of sorts to the 1994 “Twister” film (original story by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin) that starred Bill Pullman and Helen Hunt, “Twisters” features a similar plotline. A crusading crew of daredevil storm chasers will try to tame the tornadoes. This being an update, there are plenty of YouTubers along for the ride; video-streaming every funnel cloud. The film is enriched by the details that feel authentic, like a middle school science project and notes in a spiral bound notebook. “Twisters” is anchored by the characters that feel like real people portrayed by actors that bring an emotional resonance to their roles.
What makes this film exciting is the CGI. The film takes the audience inside the storms. With a great soundtrack and awesome sound design, the tornadoes become characters. It makes the adventure more visceral when the churning wind and whirling dark clouds seem like monsters trying to destroy towns and coming directly at our plucky band of misfits.
This has been Glen Powell’s summer. His breakout role was the cocky pilot in “Top Gun Maverick” but he’s on quite the roll now. Romancing Sydney Sweeney in “Anyone but You”, then steaming up the tv screens as the “Hit Man” for Netflix, and now, he’s the maverick Tornado Wrangler, Tyler Owens. Powell’s charisma and all-American good looks are a big reason the film is appealing. The fact that he’s funny and self-deprecating is the frosting on the cake.
Director Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) ensures this action film is rooted in a realistic story and anchored by real emotions. Tornadoes are deadly and can destroy entire towns and are increasing with climate change. Without turning the film into a maudlin, preachy slog, that message is made loud and clear. There are characters like Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate, who’ve lost loved ones and suffer from PTSD. She’s emotionally bereft and has given up her dreams. Kate seeks solace on the family farm. Her mother, played wonderfully by Maura Tierney (in a role clearly meant for Helen Hunt) reminds her of the toll the storms take on the farmers of America.
Another wonderful touch is how the characters that one would expect the narrative to look down on, are instead treated not just as amusement. These outlandish characters that flock to tornado alley chasing the storms for the adrenaline and the media attention, turn out to have hearts of gold. This film does not make fun of Middle America, it embraces the rodeo culture and the farming communities.
There’s a lot of teasing about Kate being a “city girl” but the joke falls flat when it turns out that Tyler is also college-educated. They’re more of a match than the audience would expect; defying expectations keeps the film relevant. There’s a gentle romance at play but what’s unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster–it’s a meeting of the minds.
Kate isn’t chasing storms in cut-off shorts letting the man rescue the mission. No, she’s saving the whole town. She’s risking her life and using her hard-won knowledge and a kitted-out trailer stocked with chemicals. Which is not to say that women won’t be wanting to buy a cool leather one-shoulder camera strap because Kate does look mighty bad-ass.
I hope that Hollywood is paying attention. Hire an Indie filmmaker known for telling personal stories with emotional heft and let them have a big budget. Maybe they’ll inspire more actors to take what could be cookie cutter characters and breathe life and nuance into those roles. Give audiences action films that are exciting but that also reflect our culture and our realities.
Drinks With Films rating: 4 bottles of nothing fancy, all American beer, sipped straight from the bottle…no need for fancy pint glasses here (out of 5)
And for those of you science nerds who want to know if any of the science in the film checks out: The movie “Twister” was based on the work of scientists at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)12. While the film features dramatic tornado scenes, it is ultimately a work of science fiction, and the portrayal of tornadoes is not entirely realistic3. However, the use of drones for tornado research, as depicted in the movie, is based on real science4.
And from real storm chaser Cyrena Arnold: can we actually disrupt tornadoes in real life? Eh, not really. The technology is not there yet, nor the knowledge to control the weather in any way. The absolute closest we can get is through some very basic cloud seeding. Putting some chemicals into the atmosphere, and they’re naturally occurring chemicals, that allows condensation to happen, and allows storms to precipitate out or to rain. That can increase the precipitation that a storm is going to put out by 10-15%. (Screen Rant)
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