Twisters is a standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster flick Twister. While it was not a highly anticipated sequel for me by any means, it turns out to be a delightful addition to this year’s mid-year blockbuster run.

Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a college student, is working with a team of fellow storm chasers in the field in an experiment to tame a tornado. Tragedy strikes and all her teammates apart from Javi (Anthony Ramos) are killed. Filled with guilt and sorrow, she leaves behind storm chasing and her hometown of Oklahoma. Five years later, she works as a meteorologist in New York City.

Javi visits and enlists her help on a project he has been working on to improve the scanning and data collection of tornadoes to aid in the prediction of such storms and potentially save lives. Reluctant at first, Kate eventually joins Javi upon persuasion and goes back to Oklahoma, just in time for an imminent storm. Here she encounters storm chaser Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a charming but narcissistic YouTuber who prints his own face on T-shirts and sells them. Rivalry breaks out as teams race to conquer the twisters, as do Kate’s nightmares and aspirations from the past.

Twisters is essentially a remake of the original film, but superior in almost all aspects. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith, the film tackles trauma, the excitement and thrill of storm chasing, and both the beauty and horror of the titular subject in a coherent and tightly paced narrative that the original film never had. Using what I call the Jurassic Park approach, the film alternates between the awestriking beauty of twisters and the devastation that they bring, perfectly blending them in the final act with a triumphant high, all while keeping us engaged with the main characters and allowing us to feel the rush and adrenaline of storm chasing throughout.

The tornadoes work as a physical threat and are like the monsters in a creature flick, while also occasionally rising above that to become metaphors for trauma and passion. The film manages to put me right into the middle of a storm, with its deafening sound mixes and spectacular cinematography. In the screening I was in, many fellow movie-goers were on the edge of their seats for certain sequences. Though lacking in the laughable preposterousness that made the original enjoyable, I thoroughly enjoyed the meta-ness of the climactic sequence in this film, which occurs in a theatre, particularly because I watched it in one.

Glen Powell is charismatic and enjoyable to watch as the “Tornado Wrangler” but the true anchor performance in the film, around which everything else revolves, is that of Daisy Edgar-Jones who is terrific. Subtle in her performance, she perfectly portrays a once-fearless girl who now fears and craves the thrill of her passion at the same time. I wished, however, that we could spend more time and learn more about all the other side characters we are supposed to care about.

The soundtrack of the film is wonderful and works perfectly with the picture. Notable highlights include original songs “Ain’t in Kansas Anymore” by Miranda Lambert and “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” by Luke Combs.

All in all, Twisters is an enjoyable cinematic experience that hugely improves upon its original in filmmaking and storytelling and is certainly one of this year’s highlights so far.

Author: Chia Jing Heng (andreusjh99)