To this day, the original Twister movie released in 1996 is deemed as one of the best disaster movies ever filmed. The extraordinary destruction and action sequences – along with the incredibly realistic storm visuals that accompanied the lively film – played the key role in the film that revolved around a life-threatening natural disaster in turning out very well executed and referenced as an instant classic to its viewers.
Fast-forward nearly 30 years, the majestic movie effects from the original Twister have come a long way and effectively carried over to the new PG-13 rated sequel film that released in July 2024, named as “Twisters,” directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
The viewers of Twisters were granted identical exhilarating visuals, sound effects, and action sequences deriving from the original film, so the cinematography experience was definitely far from a letdown.
The camera occasionally pointing towards the ominous cumulonimbus cloud in the distance in an open corn field or grassland with the wind gusts escalating, displaying hazardous upcoming weather, and the close-up shots of the vicious tornado that strived to engulf its victims, gave the audience an eerie vibe of strolling through the plains of Oklahoma, like they were caught in the middle of tornado alley throughout the whole movie.
Without giving away direct spoilers, the sequel film kicks off by giving the audience a general idea of who exactly they will be spending their next two hours with. Moreover, the character named Tyler Owens, played by actor Glen Powell, takes on another one of his Oklahoma storm chasing adventures while playing a humorous and cocky guy.
There were tremendous counts of Owens yelling “Wooohooo” and “Yeahhhhh” out of his mouth while driving towards massive tornadoes, regularly feeling pleasure from intentionally heading into the face of the destructive force of nature. Talk about nothing other than a ferocious human being right there. Additionally, he thrived on social media by posting all of his latest storm chasing activities.
Owens then displayed signs of love at first sight when he eventually crossed paths with Kate Carter and her crew at a remote gas station. Played by actress Daisy Edgar-Jones, her acting performance was observed with a few mishaps, but not considerably unsatisfactory.
Carter’s crew kicked off their adventure by initiating their primary objective of experimenting with discharging barrels of sodium polyacrylate into every tornado they chased in hopes of dissipating it or reducing its intensity in order to fund further research. Her notable friend who tagged along the expedition, continuously provided her with professional assistance at her side in regards to the dangers ahead of their mission. He was known as a secondary character named Javi, played by actor Anthony Romos.
Owens and Carter were the main spotlights of the film, with both of them being the lead of their initial storm chasing crews, then working together to accomplish the primary goal of ejecting the barrels into a tornado later in the movie. It is also worth pointing out that most of the secondary characters portrayed a rather stereotypical and insignificant role, mainly directing at other characters included in Owens’ crew.
Back to the movie as a whole, the audience was noticeably bothered by what seemed to be incomplete storylines incorporated into the film. Ultimately, the plot twists that were thrown into the story felt a little rushed and were relatively vague. In addition, the underlying storylines that drive some of the characters unfortunately weren’t explained and didn’t land well enough for a satisfying experience.
However, that backlash didn’t exactly prompt all of the movie goers to deem the hype of going to the theater for this film as unworthy, as it still granted the audience substantial cinematography, visual and sound effect, and action sequence experiences while sitting through the entire movie.
Was Twisters a perfect movie? No. Would everyone enjoy watching it and analyzing the general plot? No. However, some people may set aside the brief backlash the film received and find their own favor by just sitting in a dark, air-conditioned theater with buttered popcorn and a cold drink, casually watching a merciless force of nature wreak havoc through good ole’ Oklahoma, the state which the casual American’s mind solely focuses on the idea of only tornadoes when mentioned.
