Directed by Lee Isaac Chung
Starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, and Maura Tierney

Is it just me or are big-screen disaster movies few and far between of late? I struggle to think of one released after San Andreas in 2015. Perhaps the undeniable increase in natural disasters has left less appetite for recreating them for entertainment purposes? Are they no longer a form of escapism but rather reminders of recent and raw devastation suffered?

Well, while I cannot and will not attempt to speak for those who have been adversely impacted by any type of natural disaster, I can pleasingly say that Twisters does everything right to give itself the best chance at providing two hours of good quality and genuine escapism.

A standalone sequel that makes a few references throughout to the 1996 movie Twister starring Helen Hunt and the late Bill Paxton, Twisters follows Kate (played by Where the Crawdads Sing actress Daisy Edgar-Jones), one of several storm-chasers whose objective is to test a school project that is capable of collecting tornado data while possibly and simultaneously making it vanish into thin air. The first trial unfortunately goes horribly wrong. Five years later, Kate’s reacquaintance with Javi (Anthony Ramos), a friend who worked with her on that project and has since spent time in the military, reintroduces her to the field after Javi shares some advanced technology learnings that could be the missing link for her project to be a success. Soon, they meet the competent but cocky Tyler (Glen Powell), and his crew of storm-hunters (tennis fans will pick up on my intentional pun there). What this team may lack in qualifications, they sure make up for by being intrepid, and they are led by self-dubbed ‘The Tornado Wrangler’ himself. Like press to the scene of a crime, all storm-chasers compete to be the first in the eye of the storm. But they might need to work together when familiar patterns become less predictable, and as a monster storm descends.

How damn hot is Glen Powell!? I mean, aesthetically, yes, of course, that too, but he is suddenly appearing in everything the past 12 months (or so) and is in a rich vein of form right now. A solid outing in the excellent Top Gun: Maverick, attending a destination wedding with Sydney Sweeney in Sydney in the underwhelming rom-com Anyone But You, impressively adopting multiple personas playing a professor moonlighting as a hit man in Richard Linklater’s Netflix crime-comedy Hit Man, and now bringing just the right amounts of charm and cheek that Twisters needed. He is absolutely one of the reasons this movie is more than capable at delivering fresh and fun guilty-pleasure popcorn entertainment.  

Another is the fact there is no shortage of tornados and tornado action in this flick. While the CGI is noticeable at times, the $200 million budget of this movie gives it license to deliver what many viewers will come expecting and the aftermath scenes are pretty impressive too. Though I ordinarily am all for incorporating realism into any project, I must commend the commitment shown to ensure utmost escapism is achieved by also avoiding climate change conversation and not delving deep into any sub-plots that are established. These would have taken Twisters in an arguably more interesting yet different direction to where it ultimately goes, and in this case, I feel everyone is better off for it. Having said that, there is empathy to be shared by its characters, which has a valuable and important role to play too.

One thing that Twisters does not avoid is having a foreseeable trajectory. Nevertheless, the story evolves enough to keep Twisters from going around in circles. 

Twisters is showing in cinemas across Australia from July 11th.

Moviedoc thanks Universal and Warner Bros. Pictures for the invitation to the screening of this film.

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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