“In the eye of the tornado, there’s no more high and low, no floor and sky.” - Francis Alys
In an ideal world, the movies that demand sequels would get them. In an ideal world franchises like Twilight and Divergent would die in utero but as we know all too well, this is in fact, not a perfect world. Dredd 2 should have happened but didn’t. While it’s been promised for a decade now, there’s still no immediate sign of Edge of Tomorrow 2. Then there’s the instances when sequels happen and by some miracle they’re actually as great as the original. Paddington and Paddington 2 come to mind. But by example, Hollywood doesn’t know when to let sleeping dogs lie, and are currently prepping a third Paddington movie. Now of course it could be an excellent movie but after two remarkable films, getting the strike seems just shy of impossible. My long gestating point is that Hollywood is, generally speaking, off-balance. It’s in constant vertigo, never knowing which way is up and always pulling the trigger at the worst possible time.
This brings me to my next point - sequels no one asked for. And as Twisters demonstrates, there is clearly no statute of limitations on how long is too long when a sequel just doesn’t make sense anymore. Now my favorite movie, Blade Runner 2049, is a sequel made thirty-five years after the fact so maybe it’s best not to poke too many holes with this commentary of Hollywood’s lack of originality. But to this I say 2049 made sense as a sequel. A sequel to Twister, twenty-eight years removed feels odd but despite all my bellyaching, here we are on the eve of Twisters.
Maybe the reveal that I actually enjoyed Twisters will render everything I wrote above as completely moot but I stand by what I said. All of it, the first two paragraphs and the fact that while wholly unnecessary, Twisters is surprisingly worth its weight in Hollywood redundancy. It’s proof that even a broken clock is right twice a day. It just so happens that when they made the sequel, they needed it to be high noon and would you look at that, it’s high noon on the dot. (I’m not sure that made any sense but I’m leaving it in.)
Twisters does pretty much what the first does, just with different characters and more tornadoes. The actions of the main characters are motivated by great loss pushing them to level the playing field between mankind and these terribly destructive natural forces. The best thing they did for this sequel is portray it as advertised. Nothing beyond the obvious is promised in the trailers. It strives to get the point across that if you liked the first, and you want to see more of what that had to offer, you are in luck. And that’s what happened. If you think you know what’s going to happen in Twisters, you’re probably right. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. If your intention is to continue without attempting to rewrite what made the first successful, you have to do it at the same level of creativity and tenacity. You have to have eclectic characters motivated not just by the extreme adrenaline rush they get chasing storms, but carry with them an innate desire to better the place they call home.
Twisters is the non-sequel sequel with zero connection to the original. In this adventure, Kate Carter is reeling five long years after tragedy involving an EF5 tornado tore her life apart. Safe, and bored, in New York, destiny comes knocking when her old friend and former fellow chaser, Javi, requires her expertise and sixth sense of storm pursuit. Allowing one week to help utilize new equipment in the ongoing demand to detect and warn locals, Kate must first face the fears she left behind never really dealing with them before now.
Her path to redemption, despite her best efforts, may just lie with self-proclaimed “tornado wrangler”, Tyler Owens. At first glance he is nothing more than the handsome guy who knows he’s handsome and makes sure everyone around him knows it. He seemingly has the depth of a puddle on a sidewalk. But as with most things, time reveals all and Tyler just might be her answer to finally finding not only peace, but an answer to her long held question, “Is it possible to tame a tornado?” Despite all the warnings, literal and metaphorical, they intend to find out one way or another.
Like I said earlier, this is nothing we didn’t at least get a taste of from the first. But it does everything it needs to do really well. It manages thrilling sequences with weighty consequences. The characters are admirable and exciting as they navigate the storms as well as each other. They believe in their cause and repeatedly prove their resolve to see their goals through to the end. They are given decent arcs taking her from hidden away and reluctant to being a brave and motivated storm chaser once again. He is given a chance to prove there is more beneath the surface of his looks and over-the-top bravado. Together they aim to achieve the impossible.
While I never thought of a sequel to Twister being necessary, I have to admit when they announced it I was fully willing to give it a chance. I don’t think it will blow anyone away (pun) but I do think it provides a worthwhile escape from the summer heat currently berating us with a real sense of attitude. The two leads are charismatic and work well off of one another. They clash in humorous fashion and conquer obstacles like true, professional tornado wranglers. It is, by any measure that matters, an adequate disaster/adventure flick worth its runtime.
Rated PG-13 For: intense action and peril, some language & injury images
Runtime: 120 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, David Corenswet
Directed By: Lee Isaac Chung
Out of 10
Story: 7.5/ Acting: 8/ Directing: 8/ Visuals: 8.5
OVERALL: 8/10
Buy to Own: Yes.
Check out the trailer below:
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