Mother Nature is breathtaking. But you know what — people are pretty darn fascinating, too.
That’s what surprised me most about “Twisters.” From the trailer, I assumed it’d be a hokey, overly Hollywood-ed redo of the 1996 drama “Twister.” I didn’t expect to like it. But I did, because of the characters I got to know throughout the chases.
What starts as the overdone arc of traumatized survivor being pulled back into the dangerous work she was running from, turns into a surprisingly impactful human drama about the people who chase storms and their motivations.
The lead role belongs to Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Where the Crawdads Sing”), playing a brilliant and instinctive meteorologist named Kate, whose dream has long been to figure out how to stop an active tornado and save lives. The science behind her plan is mostly fiction, but it’s fun to imagine.
With her thoughtful, girl-next-door look and a rather shaky Southern accent, the British star commands the complexities of her character’s dreams and reservations, and pairs up nicely with her co-star, Glen Powell.
Powell continues his year of stardom, following hits “Anyone but You” and “Hit Man.” He plays Tyler, an obnoxious “tornado wrangler” YouTube sensation, who at first seems little more than dimpled good looks and arrogance. But as the story continues, we learn there’s a noble heart in this cowboy.
While the people make the movie interesting, it is still a tornado movie. And one thing that hasn’t changed since Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton were running for their lives nearly 30 years ago is that twisters are terrifying.
Our heroes are often in the path of destruction. Yes, sometimes because they drive into it, but in one scene they’re relaxing at a rodeo when a tornado finds them. Despite some abrupt cuts and overdone tornado effects (it seems if you grab someone’s hand, you’re doomed to be sucked into the sky), the film moves at a steady pace and every time a tornado dissipated, I felt myself unclench.
And rather than simply waiting for the next storm, I was invested in what the characters were up to.
“Twisters” isn’t just about Mother Nature’s awe-inspiring fury; it’s a testament to the humanity of those who chase her storms.
4/5
Scott McDaniel is an assistant professor of journalism at Franklin College. He lives in Bargersville with his wife and three kids.
