#MovieReview: Twisters is a modern upgrade to classic disaster drama

Twisters is an affecting, excellently-made disaster movie sequel that is far better than it sounds at face value.

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), the movie is a follow-up to Twister (1996) and shares its love for ‘storm chasing’ but updates it for a modern audience.

That update is helped greatly by a packed cast of exciting young actors, led by the movie star of the moment Glen Powell (Hit Man, Top Gun:Maverick) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing).

They are two opposing characters who are united only by their love for documenting twisters (tornadoes) in the American Midwest.

Powell’s Tyler Owens is a brash YouTuber who livestreams his storm chasing antics to a wide audience while Edgar-Jones’ Kate Carter is a studious meteorologist who once harboured hopes of inventing a tornado prevention mechanism.

They both find themselves in the heart of ‘tornado alley’ in Oklahoma during the height of twister season.

That is the background for this movie, which genuinely surprised me with its craft and ability to combine multiple different genre beats in one cohesive package.

And more than anything, I enjoyed the real stakes of Twisters where the tornadoes are not treated only as fun hobby items, but as legitimate disasters that can take lives and raze entire towns.

In the wake of what recently happened in Tongaat, some of the scenes in this movie might be genuinely distressing for those affected.

Chung has an incredible feel for staging, capturing the grandness of massive storms in all their terrifying glory while focusing in on the humans dealing with the fallout.

But it is not all doom and gloom and Twisters offers plenty of well-earned levity amid the melee and just enough made-up science to feel like the ‘dumb fun’ blockbusters of the 90s.

It has so far been well received by audiences too, raking in $80.5-million over its opening weekend, the third biggest opening of 2024.

That is simply good news for those who want theatre chains to stay in business.

Watch it on the biggest screen you can.

Rated 13 for Violence and Language.

4/5.

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