Twisters

Twisters is a legacy sequel with no legacy on the line. That’s because despite 28 years worth of nostalgia and the still-sad premature deaths of stars Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the original Twister is simply one of the most expensive B-movies ever made. It is a ’90s popcorn blockbuster that is technically proficient and even impressive, but also utterly forgettable as the visual effects upstage the humans. That’s not all that unusual for a disaster movie, a genre where story and characters tend to matter less than the thrills and one in which even a poorly-acted, thinly-written movie like Roland Emmerich’s 2012 can put up big numbers.

The obvious questions that spring to mind regarding Twisters are “why a sequel now?” and “is this even a sequel?” Having just endured the film, I do not have concrete or illuminating answers. Obviously, built-in audience appeal and brands are critical to big moviemaking these days and, as one of the highest-grossing movies of the ’90s, Twister still commands recognition and probably conjures some fond memories of family movie nights. As for classifying Twisters, the only character resurfacing from the original is the latest generation of the metal Dorothy tornado-tracking instrument. That suggests this is more a sequel than a loose modern-day remake. But it’s not much of either and, to be perfectly candid, it’s not much of a movie despite hailing from Academy Award-nominated Minari director Lee Isaac Chung with a screenplay by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, Overlord) and a story by Top Gun: Maverick helmer Joseph Kosinski.

The new film opens with — what else? — enthusiastic tornado chasers, who are using all the newfangled technology to chase tornados. Only two characters narrowly survive the deadly prologue: the brilliant and intuitive Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), who subsequently relocates to New York City, and Javi (Anthony Ramos), who gets his hands on some potent prototypes after joining a company that is investing big on weather data. The still-shaken Kate reluctantly joins Javi for a week of chasing storms in central Oklahoma. There, their dogmatic approach gets one-upped by the Tornado Wranglers, a team of loud, young YouTube personalities led by the bombastic Tyler Owens (Glen Powell).

What feels like a contrast in meteorological styles evolves into something a little less obvious and competitive. Kate comes to see that Tyler’s yippee-ki-yay outfit isn’t all bad, while also developing some concerns and guilt over Javi’s group’s ties to a businessman who seems to be profiting off tornado victims. There are some seeds of interesting ideas there and also, perhaps inevitably, a half-hearted love triangle between Kate, Javi, and Tyler. But, of course, it can only end with a grandiose tornado that throws people and animals and certain structures for a spin.

There are some out there who consider the original Twister sacred. I’ve met them. I can appreciate that that movie is for them what Jurassic Park is for me. But both back in the ’90s and in a recent revisiting, I have never found a whole lot to love about Dutch cinematographer-turned-director Jan de Bont’s original movie. Sure, it’s fun to see Paxton and Helen Hunt in their heydays, Cary Elwes in one of his few noteworthy ’90s movies, a young Hoffman in probably his most mindless mainstream effort, filmmaker Todd Field when he was an actor, a not quite 40-year-old Alan Ruck, a not-quite-70 Lois Smith (who’s still going strong), and Jami Gertz’ last major big screen undertaking. But none of their characters truly resonated in the screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin.

Smith and Kosinski don’t do a whole lot better on that front this time out. The cast, of course, is a lot more diverse. It’s also a lot less interesting. Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing, Fresh) must be the most boring leading lady out there. How does that happen? Twisters has a $200 million budget, which means that ample time and money must have gone into casting the lead roles. Were there no talented actresses in their twenties wanting to make this movie for a hefty salary and huge exposure? Helen Hunt was in her early thirties and already a seasoned pro of film and television when she made Twister. Just a year later, she won the Best Actress Oscar for As Good as It Gets. Nothing in Edgar-Jones’ bland and blank performance suggests such high-profile accolades in her near-future. In fairness, her character is asked to do little more than mope, look up at the sky, and join in the chorus unconvincingly spouting scientific jargon we can only assume is accurate.

Three years removed from In the Heights, Anthony Ramos seems to be consciously gravitating towards big, dumb movies like this and last summer’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. The Broadway Hamilton alum has chops, but they are withering in uninteresting paydays like this.

Then there’s Glen Powell, who seems to be well on his way to a kind of stardom that has passed by virtually every other male actor born in between 1983 and 1993. Between his hit star-driven romcom Anyone but You and Netflix’s acclaimed Hit Man, Powell is having a moment, which this won’t do much to derail. With a performance seemingly shaped by a solid week of watching Matthew McConaughey flicks, Powell tries to amp up the charm and he at least injects a little personality into a film that’s sorely lacking in that department.

The action visuals that are in theory the reason people would want to see this are as fine as they should be in a film that cost over a quarter of a billion dollars to make and market. You can defend the soundtrack of country tunes based on the setting, but besides being incredibly off-putting it also comes across as the most that Hollywood has pandered to Middle America since Pixar’s first Cars movie.

It’s hard to understand why Chung would immediately cash in the goodwill he deservedly earned for Minari on something like this. Sometimes, arthouse auteurs can experience a successful transition to a tentpole gig, like Lady Bird‘s Greta Gerwig making Barbie. Other times, like Nomadland‘s Chloé Zhao tackling Marvel’s Eternals, the disconnect is pronounced and disappointing results set back a career full of promise. But hey, life is expensive and who’s to say Chung wouldn’t regret turning down his probably once in a lifetime opportunity to make a big Hollywood movie?

I wish that big Hollywood movies did not have to be so routine and formulaic. There is pretty much no room for Chung or any talented filmmaker to turn Twisters into some transcendent, surprising, and provocative piece of art like Barbie. But it could have at least been exciting fun like Top Gun: Maverick and the new Beverly Hills Cop instead of the damp bore that it is.