Occasionally, a sequel comes along that you don’t immediately roll your eyes at. While some strive to pique fans’ interest by throwing in cameos from prior installments, very few find success following up a classic from decades ago.
Twisters comes to us 28 years after the original that starred the late Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt. Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos lead a daring and adventurous cast that includes Sasha Lane, David Corenswet, Tunde Adebimpe, Brandon Perea, Daryl McCormack, and Harry Hadden-Paton. The sequel focuses on two teams of storm chasers, one led by country boy Tyler Owens (Powell) and the other by Javi (Ramos). Kate Carter (Edgar-Jones) was once a tornado enthusiast, until chasing a tornado went wrong, causing an unforgettable tragedy that led her to walk away and move to New York. Javi tracks her down years later to recruit her for his new idea that can predict a tornado’s path, potentially saving thousands from its destruction.
It is important to note how truly ahead of its time the original Twister was. While CGI and visuals have advanced drastically since 1996, it was truly a masterpiece for what they were able to convey with what was available to them back then. Fast forward to today and Twisters literally puts you right inside of tornadoes; Owens has designed a truck that’ll dig right into the ground, preventing the vehicle from flying away. He’s the rowdy, semi-cocky star of a YouTube show where his fanbase collectively watches him livestream his chases. Owens takes it a step further and educates his viewers on the science behind what they are seeing and what they are hoping to accomplish. On the other hand, Javi’s team looks to find a way to dissolve a tornado after understanding what its chemical makeup of is. He convinces Kate to tag along, as she has garnered much attention as being one of the best in the business with her gift of knowing which storms to chase. Conflict arises when Kate discovers Javi might have a hidden agenda behind his reasons for helping out residents who lose everything in the disaster.
The true star of the show is Powell and his ability to keep viewers smiling ear to ear every time he graces the screen. He elicits charisma and a charm as the tornado wrangler, immediately becoming the favorite of the film. Wardrobe deserves their props for dressing his character as a real Southern country boy. As someone born and raised in Texas, they definitely got it right. The Austin-born actor is sweeping his way through Hollywood and quickly becoming the new leading man right before our eyes. He catapulted onto our radars in the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick, and then we fell in love with him opposite Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You. Lastly, he solidified himself as a talented name to keep up with in Netflix’s Hitman that released earlier this year. While he had gotten his start long ago in Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, his career recently catapulted to the A-List.
At the heart of Twisters is a love story that flies under the radar and isn’t overbearingly loud, which is much appreciated. There was a subtle romance with no sex scenes or any kissing, just one memorable 3-second shot of Powell in the pouring rain in a white tee and cowboy hat. While Edgar-Jones gets the most of the screen time of any character, her role is incredibly overshadowed by Powell’s popular and extremely confident character. It seems, while she is quite the talented actress, she hasn’t landed a role that gives her a true shot to show off whether or not she possesses the “it” factor. Her previous film, Where The Crawdads Sing, was well-received, but her performance in Twisters was anything but memorable. To be frank, any no-name actress could have delivered the same ordinary performance as Edgar-Jones.
Director Lee Isaac Chung deserves all the praise for bringing a classic back into the limelight and doing it justice. The outpour on social media about how much love fans have for the original is rather warming and nostalgic. From start the finish, Chung gives us heart-pounding nonstop action with barely any time to breathe. It’s a thrilling whirlwind of a film that should be seen in IMAX for the ultimate experience. Chung pieced together a cast that worked well together, yet managed to all have completely different personalities which was indeed a nice touch.
Overall, Twisters is in the top 3 films of the summer and has the surefire potential to put up some serious numbers at the box office upon its release. Chung didn’t dabble too much with the original, giving this a unique story without piggybacking off of the OG. While many thought there would be a Helen Hunt cameo, this project didn’t need it to captive audiences who were fans of the original.
Twister premieres in theaters July 19th.