I’d like to think that director Lee Isaac Chung took a page out of James Cameron’s book when pitching this movie: writing the word “Twister,” adding an S to it, and then turning that S into a dollar sign. Twisters is a new disaster movie that serves as a sequel to the classic 1996 movie directed by Jan de Bont. Chung, who previously directed the critically acclaimed Minari, makes the budgetary leap from $2 million to $200 million. You would never guess that this director made this movie, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Chung feels like he’s been directing blockbusters his entire life. It’s mind-blowing that this is his first stab at a vast Hollywood picture, and it’s incredible how well this turned out. Twisters is a phenomenal sequel that manages to be the perfect summer blockbuster. This film is an instant hit, offering the best theatrical experience of the year. It features grand, sweeping action sequences with an incredible spectacle, capturing an era of disaster movies from the ’90s. Featuring fresh faces and new technology, Twisters is a worthy successor to the original, and in my opinion, it’s even better. It will blow you away.
Universal Pictures gives us a big July hit for the summer movie season every year. 2022 had Nope. 2023 had Oppenheimer. This year, we have Twisters, which went through a few iterations. It was announced as a remake, then a sequel that would have killed Helen Hunt’s character. Chung joined the project, and this became a standalone sequel. The opening scene of Twisters references the technology that Hunt and Bill Paxton’s characters were working on in the original. From there, we have a new movie that feels very similar to the 1996 film but is updated for a new generation.
The opening scene of Twisters is excellent. We meet storm chaser Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), and this action sequence does a stellar job of getting us to care about her. Not only is it thrilling, but it is essential to informing who Kate will become. We flash forward to years later, and she has given up storm chasing and is working in the same field in a safer environment. However, her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) arrives and hands her her call to action. Of course, as all great screenplays do, we have our refusal of the call until Kate finally decides to go back into the chase. It works so well because she has a strong reason not to go, but her reason not to is the exact reason why she needs to go on this mission.
From there, we meet our team, which includes future Superman actor David Corenswet as Scott. Glen Powell, who has become Hollywood’s latest breakout star after Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, and Hit Man, arrives at the scene with Luke Combs blasting the soundtrack in the most “movie star entrance” you’ll see all year. He plays Tyler Owens, a famous social media star known for chasing storms. He’s loud and brash, and he’s got his own shirts, and at first, he feels like a riff of Cary Elwes’s character from the original. But Powell plays the character well, allowing humanity to seep through his charismatic exterior.
Everyone knows that tornadoes are dangerous, and Twisters shows exactly how dangerous they are. The thrill of movies like Twisters is that it allows us to feel like we’re in situations we would never want to be in real life. Most audience members would never want to be as close to a tornado as the characters in this movie are, but it’s fun to watch on the big screen. We feel like we have the slightest semblance of danger. Chung sells this with phenomenally directed action set pieces filled with a mixture of practical and visual effects.
One of the best decisions he made is carried over from the original. Much of the spectacle is shown from the perspectives of the characters. We see the danger and destruction based around the people living it. We see the debris nearly hitting the characters, and the chaos is something to behold. The movie always remembers the people in the story and showcases the drama and destruction that tornadoes leave behind. It’s never about mindless action; it goes for something grounded in emotion and knows how to give the characters profound moments without letting them off the hook from the danger for too long.
Do yourself a favor and buy a ticket to Twisters. It will blow you from your front-row seat to the back of the theater. This film knows when to have a lot of fun with the action and when to show the horrifying danger of the action. Chung and screenwriter Mark L. Smith crafted this movie with incredible passion. Edgar-Jones gets a lot of emotional moments to shine as an actress, and Ramos is always a nice presence in films. This movie takes everything to the max, and you can’t miss it.
SCORE: 8/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 8 equates to “Great.” While there are a few minor issues, this score means that the art succeeds at its goal and leaves a memorable impact.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Twisters review.
