(from left) Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), Javi (Anthony Ramos) and Tyler (Glen Powell) in Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
Courtney Howard // Film Critic
TWISTERS
Rated PG-13, 1 hour and 57 minutes
Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, David Corenswet, Harry Hadden-Paton, Daryl McCormack, Kiernan Shipka, Nik Dodani, Maura Tierney, Sasha Lane, Katy O’Brian, Tunde Adebimpe
There’s nothing clever or compelling that TWISTERS does that its predecessor didn’t accomplish first almost 30 years ago. From the traumatic tornado in the opening to its cataclysmic scientists-versus-storm climax, director Lee Isaac Chung’s disaster picture is a stale remake masquerading as a sequel. Not only does it fail to deliver a new spin on its action spectacle, its reductive interpersonal character dynamics also disappoint. Bogged down by science-speak, boring internal and external conflicts and on-the-nose soundtrack selections, it frequently gets wrong what the original got right.
Rather than saddle the heroine with daddy issues once again, the filmmakers gift their protagonist Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) with grief associated with the death of her boyfriend Jeb (Daryl McCormack) and their field research mates Addy (Kiernan Shipka) and Praveen (Nik Dodani). Only Kate and tracker Javi (Anthony Ramos) survived the devastating tornado they’d hoped to collapse by combining old tech like the ‘Dorothy’ device from the original film with Kate’s special cocktail that sucks up moisture (which feels like a statement on sequels themselves, blending past and present). Kate’s PTSD gets the better of her and, five years down the line, she’s transformed into a blonde city-dweller with a safe office job at a meteorology center.
As word of dangerous twisters dominates the news cycle (this film is noticeably terrified to call out climate change as a contributing factor so as not to enrage conservative audiences), Kate further retreats from her former life, dodging phone calls from her mom (Maura Tierney). Things change, however, when Javi reappears, asking for help with his high-tech, privately funded company, which seeks to better predict tornadoes and warn residents in time to lessen damage. Once they arrive in Oklahoma and meet up with the extended crew, which includes the spoiled nephew of corporate investor Scott (David Corenswet), they realize the task isn’t going to be easy. Arrogant, abrasive YouTuber Tyler Owens (Glen Powell, who’s basically aping Matthew McConaughey) and his ragtag crew are threatening to steal their thunder, as sung by Connor Smith on the soundtrack. Between the tornadoes, trauma and now Tyler, Kate’s got her work cut out for her.
Screenwriter Mark L. Smith (THE REVENANT, OVERLORD), working from a story by Joseph Kosinski (TOP GUN: MAVERICK, ONLY THE BRAVE), reductively re-engineers more than a few elements from the original. Our heroine is on the corporate interest side (represented by antagonist Cary Elwes in the original) until she gets wise of course, which is maddeningly long after we’re aware she’s working for an investor with slippery interests. Though they’re not playing a couple on the brink of divorce, and there’s no inkling of romance at all between them, the power dynamic between Kate and Tyler still plays as a gender-reversed twist on the original. They swap the therapist (Jami Gertz) tagging along for the ride from the original for a reporter (Harry Hadden-Paton) writing a story on storm chasers. Tyler’s team – Boone (Brandon Perea), Lily (Sasha Lane), Dani (Katy O’Brian), and Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe) – is comparable to Helen Hunt’s crew. In terms of the barnyard animals, they swap the flying cow for a chicken that plops onto a truck hood. Still, none of this elicits much excitement.
The filmmakers also directly lift callbacks that backfire more than benefit: The corporation’s tech is WIZARD OF OZ-themed. The hillbillies mention “the suck zone” fairly early on. Tyler drives a shiny red Dodge Ram similar to Bill Paxton’s in the first film, except this one can drill down into the ground (perhaps as an homage to HURRICANE HEIST). Instead of the drive-in sequence where the heroes and townsfolk huddle in an underground car bay, the heroes and townsfolk hunker down in a motel pool after a rodeo is disrupted.
What’s left after all the nostalgia has been thoroughly mined is a genuine bore. Pacing is an issue as the human drama in between the VFX-driven set pieces slows down momentum. Focus is pulled from the ongoing quest onto nature’s devastating aftermath, human altruism and self-sacrifice. The story severely sags in the middle, weighed down by copious reminders of Kate’s sorrow and survival guilt. This trait doesn’t add any pressing motor, nor does it provide instant rootablility. They saddle her with a rote grief arc, showing her predictably transform into the ill-conceived, stale archetype studio execs love: the Strong Female Character, who sports prerequisite Action Movie Heroine Tank Tops (now with a leather harness). She only starts to shed her troubles thanks to the encouragement of a guy in her life. Speaking of Tyler, his journey, from top of the heap to a humbled hero, is equally reductive, seen countless times before in Tom Cruise’s oeuvre.
There’s a famous anecdote about Van Halen’s contribution to the TWISTER soundtrack in which director Jan de Bont explicitly told the band not to write a song about tornadoes – but according to Eddie Van Halen, Sammy Haggar wrote a demo that was “total tornado stuff!” Had Chung followed de Bont’s lead and been far more subtle about his references and sentiments, let alone his needle drops, maybe TWISTERS would’ve raised the bar. Without any truly fun, entertaining and indelible moments like the first had in spades, this rehash lives up to the label of “disaster film.”
Grade: D-
TWISTERS opens in theater on July 19.
