A review of the new blockbuster movie “Twisters”
As “Alien” (1979) begat “Aliens” (1986), so “Twister” (1996) has now led to “Twisters” (2024), although with a much longer interval of almost three decades, meaning that the only common personage is Steven Spielberg in the executive producer role. So we’re back storm-chasing in the ‘Tornado Alley’ of Oklahoma, this time with some more advanced technology such as drones and the impact of social media. It’s not a sequel or a remake but a standalone. It was filmed largely on location and in season.
The narrative is very formulaic with familiar tropes (starting with: will the protagonist overcome the guilt of her early failure to achieve redemption? well, what do you think?), but the disaster movie is a genre that often provides satisfactory entertainment and this one works well enough, not just because of the tension provided by the tornados, but because of the chemistry between the two attractive leads, Daisy Edgar-Jones (“Where The Crawdads Sing”) and Glen Powell “(“Top Gun: Maverick”). I wasn’t blown away, but it was uplifting.