Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones starred in the new “Twisters” movie; a highly anticipated not-quite-remake, not-quite-sequel of the 1996 film “Twister”.
The story revolves around storm chasers dedicated to tracking and studying tornadoes. The movie starts with some background on Edgar-Jones’ character Kate. Kate is an Oklahoma-born storm chaser who was experimenting with using chemical reactions to reduce the intensity of tornadoes, but lost several friends to a tornado in the process.
Kate has since relocated to New York City to study meteorology in a safer setting. Eventually, Kate is convinced by Javi, an old friend who also survived the tornado with her, to come back to Oklahoma and observe his work in tornado tracking.
While back in Oklahoma, Kate and Javi experience a once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak, causing storm chasers from across the country to descend on rural Oklahoma. This is when the audience is introduced to Powell’s character, Tyler.
Tyler and his rowdy friends are amateur storm chasers who drive into tornadoes, doing stunts for YouTube views. In the beginning of the film, Kate and Tyler are portrayed as polar opposites, one a well-educated meteorologist who plays it safe and the other an irresponsible redneck who profits off natural disasters.
Following several encounters during these brutal storms, Kate and Tyler begin to bond. Kate learns that Tyler also studied meteorology and uses the profits from his YouTube channel to help communities impacted by tornadoes. The two decide to join forces amidst one of the worst tornadoes of the season in an attempt to lessen the impact of the storm on a small town.
I spent my summer living in Manhattan and watched “Twisters” with my sister at an AMC theater in Greenwich Village. As Midwesterners who’ve experienced a tornado warning or two, we couldn’t help but wonder what the packed New York City audience was thinking while watching this depiction of life in middle America. We kept joking that these people couldn’t even spell “Great Plains,” although they very well could’ve been NYC transplants like us. The theater itself, a 7-story building with escalators and floor-to-ceiling windows showcasing the city, was a strange juxtaposition of the movie that mirrored our home.
The visuals of Oklahoma were beautiful and captured the essence of Tornado Alley, though some of the characters’ accents and portrayals of Oklahoma living felt a bit exaggerated. The tornadoes, however, were incredibly realistic, truly immersing us in the storms.
I hadn’t seen the original “Twister”, so I went into “Twisters” without any expectations, ready to take it at face value. Powell and Edgar-Jones had fantastic chemistry, something that really shone through not just in the film but also during their viral press tour, which I followed on social media. The movie was consistently thrilling and kept a good pace, with just enough hints of a budding romance without letting it take over the main story.
I enjoyed this movie; it was perfect for a night at the theater. It wasn’t too heavy but still captivating and while it might not be groundbreaking, it’s definitely something I would watch again. I think the box office success it’s received is well deserved.
