As a fan of the original Twister, your Webb critic is thrilled to report that the brand-new sequel does exactly what it has to.
Currently No. 1 in theaters, Twisters does not share any personnel — either behind the camera, or in front — with its hugely entertaining predecessor. Happily, it does share the other elements that made Twister 1996’s second-biggest moneymaker (behind a little juggernaut called Independence Day).
Those worthy features include solid plotting, terrific visuals, good bad guys, likable performers and a whirlwind of cyclonic excitement — especially at the climax.
I should point out that Twisters distinguishes itself from the first film with a much more serious tone and story — one that highlights the small-town death and destruction of its titular topic.
To this end, the new film opens with a bravura sequence in which several young storm-chasers lose their lives to a tornado that escalated way too fast — leaving our protagonist, Kate Carter, devastated at having orchestrated an ultimately fatal research project.
Five years later, she is tapped again for similar work in Oklahoma — at which point, the film’s key conflict kicks in: Kate’s cadre will compete with a carload of rollicking, bad-boy “tornado wranglers.”
This plot-strand aligns with the overzealous group led by actor Cary Elwes in the first film — though Twisters is smart enough to ring some changes on this clash, which thereby becomes one of the sequel’s strongest assets.
The skirmish is flawlessly fleshed out by actors Daisy Edgar-Jones as Carter (she had the lead in Where the Crawdads Sing), plus one of our hottest current stars: the charismatic and talented Glen Powell as head wrangling honcho Tyler Owens.
Powell has made a whopping 23 films in the last 12 years — including The Dark Knight Rises, Hidden Figures, Devotion, the fabulously successful rom-com Anyone But You and 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick — in which he played Tom Cruise’s likable rival, Hangman.
The rest of the cast is excellent, with a nifty cameo by the son of late Twister star Bill Paxton — briefly appearing as a surly motel guest. The movie’s only other connection to its forbear is a Wizard of Oz motif that first shows up here in the form of “Dorothy,” a storm-chasing device from the original.
But as I indicated, Twisters homes in on the wreckage wrought by tornados upon small Midwestern towns; and it thus puts a face on loss and heartbreak, while also urging its characters to do more than just ride rodeo during disaster.
Indeed, the movie’s triumph is its climax, in which a colossal storm bears down on an unprepared hamlet with nowhere better to cower than a cavernous mid-town movie house. So I was asking myself, “Is this script going to focus on helping the residents ride out the storm, or on pursuing Kate’s research?” — which aims to inject moisture into the heart of a twister to see if that will dampen the fury.
As it happens, writers Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Boys in the Boat) and Joseph Kosinski (Only the Brave, Top Gun: Maverick) manage to arrange things so Kate and company will actually try both feats at once: test her theory and protect the town.
It’s a suspenseful and visually impressive climax with a very satisfying resolution.
In addition to the cocky but charming Powell, Edgar-Jones really shines; she’s one young star to keep an eye on. What’s more, Smith and Kosinski choose not to play up any romance around Kate Carter — just as they chose not to talk about climate change either.
These two omissions have garnered heat online, but I didn’t notice; I was too busy caring about the characters — and getting swept up in the excitement.
With an impressive $125 million global take in its first five days, Twisters looks like another mid-summer hit that will help refill studio coffers after a lackluster financial start to the season.
Don’t be surprised if it spins into a whole new franchise.
