Movie Review: ‘Twisters’

The new movie is powered by impressive effects, and a mostly solid storyline but even more by the performances of Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

(from left) Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Tyler (Glen Powell) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Opening in theaters on July 19th, ‘Twisters’ is real throwback movie making –– which makes sense, since it effectively follows (though rarely directly references) the 1996 Jan de Bont-directed original.

Which means you don’t have to have seen the 1990s movie to enjoy the new one, which serves as a callback to that era of filmmaking. It’s sitting firmly in big-scale event-movie territory, and the hand of executive producer Steven Spielberg can be felt, if lightly.

Will ‘Twisters’ Blow You Away?

(from left) Lily (Sasha Lane) and Tyler (Glen Powell) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

At one point, it looked as though ‘Twisters’ might be headed down the road of a sequel to the original that would feature the daughter of Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton’s characters. But the path has instead led it to a much more standalone place, drawing only on the concept of storm chasers (and, early on, including a nod to the storm-monitoring device known as “Dorothy” from the 1996 movie).

It’s a smart move, as ‘Twisters’ is allowed to mostly stand on its own, and it provides enough entertainment value to blow past any problems.

‘Twisters’: Script and Direction

(from left) Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and director Lee Isaac Chung on the set of 'Twisters'.

With a script that nods back to ‘Twister’ in credits form (the original movie’s writers Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin score a “based on characters created by” mention, the new film is written by Joseph Kosinski (the ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ director flirted with making this a few years back in its development stage) and Mark L. Smith (yes, the man behind ‘The Revenant’).

In many ways, it leans more towards Kosinski’s blockbuster sensibility, in both the positive and negative senses. The screenplay is a slick machine, running you from windy set-piece to spinning scenes of destruction, but taking its foot off the pedal enough to fill in some decent character detail for at least Edgar-Jones’ Kate and Powell’s Tyler.

Yet with that shape come the predictable cliches that always seem to be swept up too. There are shortcuts to emotional drama and some of the supporting characters might as well carry signs reading “uptight martinet” or “nervy reporter” instead of seeming like real people. Still, the movie around them is fun enough to handwave that away.

‘Minari’ director Lee Isaac Chung is probably tired of people being surprised that he went from directing an intimate, personal drama of family struggles to a huge-scale thriller where cars and people go flying. But he brings some echo of his past work to this latest effort, dialing down on what makes the lead characters tick, while, along with cinematographer Dan Mindel and the talented effects team, make the tornado scenes work. And the personal stakes don’t end with our heroes –– there are scenes of locals impacted by the terrifying twisters and even some sneaky chat about climate change.

‘Twisters’: Performances

(from left) Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe), Lily (Sasha Lane), Ben (Harry Hadden-Paton), Boone (Brandon Perea), Dani (Katy O’Brian), Javi (Anthony Ramos), Tyler (Glen Powell) and Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

From the marketing, this could well have been re-titled “the Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell Show”, with a subtitle of “also featuring Anthony Ramos and some other people”. While the focus is mostly certainly on the lead duo, Ramos and one or two others do get moments to shine.

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate Cooper

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Daisy Edgar-Jones is our focus here, her storm expert Kate enjoys the lion’s share of the characterization, including a dramatic, tragic introduction and a full arc that finds her re-discovering her passion for tackling tornadoes (she’s less looking to chase them, more find a way to shut them down).

And in the actress, Chung could not have picked a more luminous lead –– several moments work because Edgar-Jones’ expressive face make that happen, and she’s certainly got the dramatic chops to carry the storyline. Plus, her chemistry with Powell is palpable, even if the romantic side is more bubbling under than raging storm.

Glen Powell as Tyler Owens

Glen Powell as Tyler in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Between ‘Hit Man’ and now this, Glen Powell is spending 2024 proving that he has full-on star power. His introduction ladles on the smug-but-likeable charm and partly thanks to the actor, Owens has more depths that you might suspect from first glance. Sure, he’s cocky and arrogant, but Powell infuses him with those extra layers.

Anthony Ramos as Javi

Javi (Anthony Ramos) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Anthony Ramos is probably regretting signing on to this latest big-scale film –– after being overshadowed by Optimus Prime in ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’, he’s now playing third fiddle to his co-stars. Still, Javi is enough of a solid character to prove worthy of the actor.

Maura Tierney as Cathy Cooper

Maura Tierney as Cathy in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

Appearing as Kate’s mother, Maura Tierney makes the most of her couple of scenes, playing well against Edgar-Jones and Powell.

Supporting Cast

(from left) Mike (Stephen Oyoung), Peter (Alex Kingi), Scott (David Corenswet), Javi (Anthony Ramos) and Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

As we mentioned in the scripting section, the rest of the characters are largely archetypes, with future 'Superman' David Corenswet essentially a reboot of the snooty, profit-chasing character Cary Elwes played in the original. The rest of Tyler’s storm-chasing team are a fun bunch, but only get the occasional moment to impact the story.

‘Twisters’: Final Thoughts

(from left) Tyler (Glen Powell) and Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) in 'Twisters', directed by Lee Isaac Chung.

With a film such as ‘Twisters’, there’s always a debate to have whether it justifies its existence. But by not (mostly) looking to reboot the 1996 movie or go the legacy route, it proves to offer enough fun, its nostalgic nature not tied directly to ‘Twister’ but instead the sort of movie that one typified.

It’s driven by two great leads and certainly throws enough at the screen (literally in certain scenes) to make its basic concept work.

‘Twisters’ receives 8 out of 10 stars.

What’s the story of ‘Twisters’?

‘Twisters’ stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos as equal forces, with opposing motivations, who come together to try to predict, and possibly tame, the immense power of tornadoes.

Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Ramos) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system.

There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew, the more dangerous the better.

As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed, and Kate, Tyler, Javi and their crews find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.