Movie Review: TWISTERS Starring Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Daisy Edgar-Jones

A couple of months ago, I was in Oklahoma for a slowpitch softball tournament (go Dadbods!). We got hit by rain during the tournament and had to seek shelter for a bit, but after the skies cleared, the tournament resumed. Just as the first inning was underway, the familiar sound of tornado sirens rang out. The skies were pretty clear and didn’t look threatening, so we played on, although in hindsight, it was perhaps a bit cavalier, especially since we later found out a town about an hour or so south got hit by a tornado.

Still, if you’ve lived in the Midwest at all, more than likely you’ve been through a heavy storm with the perfect conditions to create a tornado. Several of my friends have posted memes about how rather than seeking shelter, we’ll go to the front porch and check out the storm, and there’s a hint of truth to that. The fact remains, though, that tornados, even EF1s, are violent, destructive forces of nature that we still struggle to fully understand.

Naturally, just in time for summer comes Twisters, a standalone sequel to the 1996 film that perhaps inspired an influx of lilapsophobia, Twister. While Twisters started off as a remake of the original film (more on this shortly) written and directed by Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, the concept eventually evolved into its current iteration, directed by Lee Isaac Chung and written by Mark L. Smith, who adapted Kosinksi’s story.

What didn’t change is the central premise: two young storm chasers pursue tornadoes in Oklahoma, deadset in the middle of Tornado Alley. Both films feature a handsome hotshot man (Glen Powell, in this instance) willing to push safety for the chance to be close to a tornado and a brilliant, gorgeous woman who experienced tornado-related trauma in the past (Daisy Edgar-Jones).

Now, based on this, you might be thinking to yourself, “So how is this a sequel? This just sounds like a remake.” And you’re not wrong here. Thankfully, the bulk of the film is different enough (narrowly different at times, but indeed different) to keep the audience from fully guessing the premise.

Is that for the better? Well, that’s probably going to depend on your personal preference. The original film was brilliant in its simplicity; while the premise of the movie focused on using technology to better understand tornados and how they form/operate, there aren’t a ton of technical terms thrown out, nor does the technology seem completely outlandish. Twisters tends to lean more on scientific jargon and technology to dazzle the audience. While they do use sensors to track tornadoes (in a nice nod to the original), Kate Cooper (Daisy) wants to use sodium polyacrylate (the gel in diapers that absorbs liquid) to disrupt the tornado and force it to dissipate.*

* – Now, obviously this part sounds like it might be a work of science fiction, but believe it or not, this idea has basings in real-world thinking. The theory that polyacrylate might be able to disrupt a storm pattern was proposed in the early 2000s by a Florida businessman, and Project Stormfury was an attempt by the government to seed cyclones with silver iodide in the 1960s and 1970s.

Beyond that, though, I couldn’t help but feel like the movie managed to keep the spirit of the original intact while updating it with modern technology. Part of the charm of Twister was that it incorporated a lot of practical effects to blend with the CGI storm; who can forget the truck driving through an uprooted house? Twisters does rely on CGI a lot for certain scenes, but I was also surprised at the lengths they went to in order to simulate the damage of a tornado. When tornadoes struck down in Perryville a few years ago, some college friends and I drove down with supplies to help clean up. Seeing the damage up close and how uprooted the whole community was a tremendous eye-opener to me; Twisters pulls no punches when portraying how quickly and thoroughly a town can be devastated. 

The movie isn’t just one tornado after another, though, and during the down time, Kate and amateur celebrity Tyler Owens (Glen) cross paths and the two, initially competitors, eventually become partners, and it works effectively thanks to the chemistry Edgar-Jones and Powell have. Glen’s been riding a wave of well-received films in recent years (the aforementioned Maverick, Devotion, Hit Man) and has firmly positioned himself as one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men. This is Daisy’s first big-budget film, as she’s more well-known in the UK for her television performances, but she carries her part very well, and she and Glen are excellent working with each other; I certainly hope this isn’t the last time the two pair up. Maybe when Twist3rs comes out?

That last part was a joke. Maybe. Recent patterns seem to indicate that we face times of more uncertain weather than previous generations, and with it comes the potential for increased damage and harm, so maybe a third film will be warranted. The movie isn’t a blatant mouthpiece for climate change, but it does point to it. When I pressed my friend Krisden on her thoughts, she stated it felt like “classic Americana in the best way,” perhaps a reference to the quaint, small-town feel of the bulk of the movie. She enjoyed the movie quite a bit, noting that the world has changed quite a bit in the 28 years since the first film came out, yet the message is still as relevant as ever.

Indeed it is. I definitely need to see it again to see what I may have missed during the screening, because there certainly are some references to the original film, some very obvious (Dorothy) and some very subtle. Unfortunately, some of the actors in the original film have since passed away, but if you watch closely, you may be able to see someone with a very close connection to Bill Paxton.

Ultimately, though, I do also want to see it again, because beyond my affinity for Twister, Twisters is actually an excellent film that can stand on its own. While it’s certainly preferable to have seen the first before going into the theater, it’s by no means mandatory. It isn’t supplanting The Fall Guy as my favorite 2024 movie, but it’s a worthy effort, and one I’d absolutely recommend for fans of the first film.

Twisters gets a B+