When, right from the first scene, a tornado starts picking off the teenage scientist team led by Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) one by one like a slasher movie villain, it becomes clear that we are witnessing something different from the 1996 “Twister.” That is to say: a slightly more interesting film.
Because the main issue with that film, starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, is that it sidesteps a fundamental truth: that tornado hunting is a real mess.
So, in that case, it doesn’t matter how beautiful the widescreen compositions are; following those characters is always a drag. Jan de Bont is no Kathryn Bigelow, and the adrenaline junkie aspect of those characters never acquires any real weight. What remains is the dull marital drama between Paxton and Hunt.
What this “Twisters” manages to do right away, then, is instill a sense of danger in the world of the characters: this occupational path they’ve chosen is far from fun; on the contrary, it is deeply traumatic.
Thus, it’s much easier to be interested in the drama experienced by Kate, and it helps that Edgar-Jones is deeply charismatic. She is reluctantly dragged back into the eye of the storm by an old friend, who convinces her that it is possible to make a difference and save lives with the brand-new technology she has. With the sense of danger being better developed, we buy into the story and stick with her.
The problem is that it’s tornado season, and all sorts of crazy people cross the scientists’ path. The biggest of them is played by Glen Powell with a cowboy hat, his million-dollar smile, and that roguish face we love to hate. Powell plays Tyler, a YouTuber famous for his live streams of storm-chasing. That Tyler and his team have the same annoying energy as the heroes from the 1996 film comes as a pleasant surprise: this time, it’s the straight-laced ones who emerge as heroes, while this disruptive team serves as their antagonists. It’s as if “Twisters” admits that, yes, the protagonists of the original film are somewhat obnoxious, but we are in good hands this time.
Because times have changed. The disaster movies of the 1990s were sold on the idea of “what if”: what if this happened to you? But there was a sense of detachment that allowed for a playful exploration of horror through spectacular images. In times of climate crisis, things get complicated. Innocence has been lost. Riding towards the tornado with laughter in the face of destruction feels wrong.
At the same time, while the film tries to condemn the exploitation of tragedy for profit on one hand (Kate will discover that her team isn’t as noble as she thought), “Twisters” is part of that very same machine on the other. After all, the film sells itself on its ability to impress the audience with images of destruction. In this, it does not disappoint. Thus, “Twisters” finds itself at a certain moral crossroads that it does not fully resolve but does not ignore either. This makes it a simultaneously flawed and intriguing artifact.
Flawed, because to continue developing its point, “Twisters” feels the need to perform a dramatic turn and invert what it had been building. This is how the straight-laced characters become the villains again, and the daring storm-chasers led by Tyler are revealed to be the true heroes. This means that, unfortunately, Powell has to abandon his roguish charm to stay within the confines of the script. This twist does not compromise the film, but the effort to keep things on track is evident.
Until reaching this point, however, we had already been captivated by the first half of the film. And Edgar-Jones and Powell have enough charisma and interesting characters to keep us hooked until the final happy ending, no matter how turbulent the journey.
