TWISTERS (2024) – Good but not as good as the original

In 1996, Universal Studios had a hit disaster movie called Twister which featured Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as two storm chasers. The film was memorable because it featured some astoundingly realistic special effects of tornadoes which still resonates today. It was inevitable that a sequel be made but I am surprised it took 28 years for that to happen in the form of the rather unimaginatively and simply titled Twisters.

Perhaps this similarly titled follow-up is reflective of what to expect as this new movie is more of a re-imaging of the original movie rather than a sequel. The plot is pretty much the same and cast wise, we have Daisy Edgar-Jones (remember her in Where the Crawdads Sing) and Glen Powell as the two storm chasers. I have to admit that I loved the original Twister and it remains one of my favorite movies from the 1990’s. Somewhere everything about that movie worked, from the humour, the subtle romantic connection between the two main characters, and the eye-popping tornado effects. Coming in at almost 30 years later, this new movie has the clear advantage of a more superior and advanced technology to create the effects. Hence, it is not surprising to find the tornadoes featured here bigger, louder and more menacing. Sadly, in spite of that, the action sequences here comes off short when compared to the original movie. I am not saying that they were not entertaining to watch. Just that if I were to compare this to the original, I would say that the new movie lost the right to being original and everything just feels like a copy of the first. Additionally, it’s handling of the action sequences lacked the creativity to make them memorable. Who could forget the flying cows in the original!

Not everything is bad though. I did like the epic sequence involving the destruction of a cinema hall with a point of view from inside the hall. The theatre screen was showing the black and white classic Frankenstein! Director Lee Isaac Chung was reported as saying he chose Frankenstein as a subtle link to the film’s theme about the unintended consequences of our attempts to control nature. This to me, felt like a homage to the sequence in the original where the tornado ripped apart the screen in a drive-in theatre which was showing The Shining just at the iconic scene where Jack Nicholson was cracking open the door with an axe and saying “Here’s Johnny”!”.

Twisters is NOT a bad movie. Far from it. I did find it entertaining and certainly better than a lot of new movies today. The storyline may be predictable, but at least the characters are generally likeable. I think the film’s strongest point is in its two main stars. Daisy Edgar-Jones was well casted as the untainted persona of Kate, the tornado chaser who is haunted by a misadventure dealing with the tornadoes. She is well matched against current Hollywood heartthrob Glen Powell, a reckless chaser who has immediate connection to her when they encounter as their paths cross while chasing the storms. Both had chemistry and to the film makers credit, they did not cheapen the movie by making them become lovers on screen and have some steamy moments amidst the calamity that was going on around them. You will probably enjoy this more if you have not seen the original or have little recollection of that.