‘Twisters’ never rises above mindless entertainment
“Twisters” should be used for the blueprint of all summer movies designed to do nothing more than be escapist entertainment. Things like plot and character development are just obstacles to be overlooked in favor of good-looking stars gazing at the horizon and each other.
What tries to pass for a plot from Mark L. Smith starts with idealistic tornado chaser Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) trying to prove her science project that the material used to make disposable diapers could stop a tornado. Please note any questions about scientific viability will not be taken at this point.
Her efforts prove tragic and she ends her tornado chasing ways. The film would have been 10 minutes long had that been all there was to the story. Fast forward five years to where Cooper gets a visit from an old friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos), who convinces her he has the technology to create a 3-D image of a tornado. That information could save lives.
Cooper agrees to help her friend for one week. That puts her in Oklahoma’s tornado alley where the big winds come sweepin’ down the plain. She must face her anxiety while dealing with new competition in the form of the hunky tornado wrangler, Tyler Owens (Glen Powell).
There is no question a warm front is coming as soon as they lock eyes. This romantic tease is another reason the film is shallow because it would take someone who has never seen a movie not to anticipate their eventual connection.
Smith’s script kicks into mindless high gear as the competing tornado chasers face the swirling winds of death. Director Lee Isaac Chung gets the most out of the tornadoes as they are good for action sequences because they create as much violence as an alien invasion.
They aren’t quite as memorable as fights with aliens as no tornado has sharp teeth, huge claws and hideous stare. The most a tornado can have is a few sharks but that is a different franchise.
One reason for the vapidness of the story comes from the lack of a distinct villain. The tornadoes can’t be held up as the bad guys as they are nothing more than a force of nature that leaves paths of destruction. You will never see James Bond looking at a tornado and saying, “You have met your match Blow Hard.”
Smith tried to wedge in a corrupt tycoon to create a villain worth hating but that storyline runs out faster than beer at a frat party. This is not a complete failure because the design of “Twisters” is for the story to be as transparent as Casper the Friendly Ghost.
This leaves Edgar-Jones – best known for her work in “Where the Crawdads Sing” – and Powell – sadly best known for “Anyone but You” – to bring some sparks to the film. What was needed were skyrockets but their chemistry barely gets past being a sparkler.
Powell is being pushed as the next big leading man as with his work in “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone but You.” He isn’t established enough to be able to light romantic flames especially when his on-screen partners have not helped.
Sydney Sweeney was too annoying in “Anyone but You” to make the audience care. Edgar-Jones is too milk toast to add any fuel to a fire. That leaves Powell trying to be part of a sweet romance without a good partner.
“Twisters” is not a sequel to the 1996 film, “Twister,” starring Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. They merely share a similar name and the weather conditions.
That film was also light in story, but it came just a few years after “Jurassic Park” and the technology was still new enough that audiences were amazed. Even young people making movies at home have access to software that can produce incredible special effects. While the tornadoes in “Twisters” are good enough to induce a few drops of adrenaline, none of it feels original.
“Twisters” has opened in the summer because there is less pressure to hit a high standard. The bottom line that “Twisters” hits so neatly is to use the least amount of story to link together some big action scenes and a potential love story. Anything else is just an ill wind.
Movie review
Twisters
Grade: B-
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Maura Tierney, Anthony Ramos
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Rated: PG-13 for peril, some language
Running time: 122 minutes.
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