JP Nunez
I’m not going to lie, up until about a week and a half ago, I had just about zero interest in Twisters. I had never seen the original Twister (although I’ve since remedied that), and the concept didn’t appeal to me all that much. But then something unexpected happened. The early reviews for the film were surprisingly good, and some critics I follow even said it was one of their favorite movies of the year. With all that hype, I simply had to see Twisters for myself, and now that I have, I’m happy to report that it’s an absolute blast.
Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, and it stars a huge ensemble cast led by Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos. The film follows a young woman named Kate who used to be a storm chaser in the Midwest, but now she works as a meteorologist in New York. However, when her old friend Javi decides to get back in the game, he convinces Kate to fly back to her home state and join him for a week.
During that time, Javi and Kate keep running into a rival group of storm chasers led by a charming but reckless YouTuber named Tyler, and at first, the two teams couldn’t be more different. But as the movie goes on, we learn that these characters are more complex than we gave them credit for, and as they chase more storms together, their fates become entangled in ways none of them could’ve imagined.
Before we get started, I want to tackle the elephant in the room. If you’ve never seen the original Twister, can you watch this sequel? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes. Twisters is more of a requel than a traditional sequel, so it’s connected to Twister by only the thinnest of narrative threads. Sure, you’ll get more out of it if you’re a fan of the original film (and there’s one moment that’ll really stir up your nostalgia), but it works perfectly fine as a standalone story too.
Now that we got that out of the way, we can dive into the actual movie, and I have to say, Twisters had me pretty hooked right from the get-go. For starters, the tornado action in this film is top-notch. These storms are absolute monsters, and when they show just how powerful they truly are, they’re utterly thrilling. These things tear buildings apart, flip cars over, and pull people to their deaths, and when we see the aftermath of a twister’s short but brutal reign of terror, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were seeing footage of Tokyo after a kaiju attack.
But as great as that action is, Twisters isn’t really about the spectacle. It’s primarily about the characters, and they’re excellent. Much like the original Twister, the acting here is great all around, so these characters are totally convincing and super charming. The performances will make you buy into every single one of these people, and their charisma will make you enjoy watching them no matter what they’re doing at the moment.
In fact, I could probably write a whole article about how great everybody is in this movie, but for the sake of brevity, I’m only going to highlight the biggest standout–Glen Powell. He plays Tyler, and he’s fantastic. This character calls himself a tornado wrangler rather than a storm chaser, and Powell totally embodies that ridiculous description. He talks and acts like a wannabe cowboy, and he’s the kind of arrogant, reckless jerk you can’t help but love to hate.
Then, as Twisters progresses, Tyler starts to show some surprising complexity, and every time we discover a new layer to his personality, Powell absolutely nails it. He completely steals the show, so even though Kate is the main character, Tyler is almost certainly going to be the one everybody buzzes about when they leave the theater.
Those great characters give Twisters a solid foundation, but the real heart and soul of this movie is the dynamic between Tyler, Kate, and Javi. It’s a love story, but it’s not nearly as predictable as the original Twister. In that film, you can tell right away that the main character is going to leave his new fiancé and get back together with his ex-wife, but here, it’s not quite as telegraphed.
Granted, if you know how Hollywood love stories work, it’s not hard to guess how this one is going to play out, but the film casts enough doubt on that seemingly inevitable outcome that it just doesn’t feel as eye-rollingly obvious. It allows you to suspend disbelief and engross yourself in the narrative as if you didn’t know what was going to happen, and that makes for a much more gratifying viewing experience.
That being said, Twisters isn’t just a love story. It’s also about friendship, grief, and helping our fellow human beings, and the movie weaves those various elements together almost seamlessly. In fact, by the time the credits begin to roll, every thematic thread comes together in just about the most satisfying way possible, so despite all the death and destruction the titular tornadoes cause, this is actually one of the best feel-good films of the year.
So if you’re looking for something good to watch, I definitely recommend that you go see Twisters. It’s the perfect combination of thrilling natural disaster action and genuinely heartwarming storytelling, and for someone who had never even seen the original Twister a week ago, it’s hands down the biggest and most pleasant surprise of 2024.
Twisters is playing in theaters right now.
