Review: Twisters – When “If you feel it, chase it” Has a Whole New Meaning

Growing so large it cannot be stopped, leaving no hope for anyone in its path, who are ripped from the ground and pulled perilously into its thrall. It’s impossible to avoid the unstoppable force of nature that is the Glen Powell PR machine. The man himself shouldn’t be blamed. It takes sustained effort to be the next Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt or George Clooney. But we live in an age of never-ending entertainment and now that the charm faucet has been turned all the way ON, there’s no turning off of that raw star power.

Possibly Powell’s biggest role to date is as a co-lead of Twisters, the legacy sequel to Twister, a disaster movie which was huge business back in 1996. Twisters is a thrilling action movie that lives up to its predecessor. And, like Twister, it has twins, although here it’s twin personalities. Director Lee Isaac Chung is so enamoured with the Powell effect that he forgets that the film is about characters, not actors. When the storm comes, this movie is fantastic, when the air is still, Twisters is nonsensical and as deep as a puddle.

Technically, Powell is the third lead of Twisters. Daisy Edgar-Jones plays first lead – Kate, a meteorologist who is as smart and beautiful as she is thin and unknowable. Building on the data harnessed in Twister, Kate is on her way to gaining a PhD in destroying the tornados of Oklahoma with science. But storm chasing is a dangerous business that leads to a personal tragedy that puts Kate off field work for years. Until her old chaser buddy Javi (Anthony Ramos) tracks her down to a New York meteorology lab with a job proposition: he’s now a legit chaser businessman with financial backing and needs her help: the twisters are getting worse. Kate agrees to return to Oklahoma for one week to see Javi’s research. But now, chasing has become a social sport. The hottest kid on the block, Tyler (Powell) is Javi’s competition, with his ragtag group of TikTokers who seem to be tracking the twisters just for the ‘Gram. Or are they?

Chung achieves so much with this film. The cast is vibrant and diverse, with hints of intriguing personal narratives. The story, from felow director Joseph Kosinski, is great, relevant and with a lovely balance of science and fun. The set pieces are almost too convincing, making it feel strange that any of Oklahoma’s towns are still standing; the human cost of nature’s anger is clear to see and nobody needs to use the words climate change. It’s the character arcs that fall flat. Mainly because Tyler’s crew are the real story, with not enough screen time given to drone pilot Lilly (Sasha Lane), snappy mechanic Dani (Katy O’Brien) and brainiac Dexter (Tunde Adebimpe). Twisters is so full of characters that Kiernan Shipka is given only a small (but brilliant) turn. Levity comes from Harry Hadden-Paton‘s British journalist and literal future Superman(!) David Corenswet is reduced to a crisp white shirt and an attitude. Which is a shame when the film’s focal relationship (between the three leads) is uncomfortable and weird.

Weird is usually good. Twister was weird, with a tagalong divorce plot, funky archetypes and Philip Seymour Hoffmann giving classic pathos pervert. Chung builds on Helen Hunt’s Jo by doubling down on the stoicism for Kate. There’s only so much Edgar-Jones can do when she’s not permitted to answer any question with a straight answer. Chung pivots everything and everyone around Kate. Javi’s arc is defined by her (he may be crushing on her which completely defeats the object of Kate being hired for her skills and not her obvious beauty). Kate’s mum Cathy wastes Maura Tierney. Having barely heard from her daughter in years, Cathy welcomes her back with open arms, before singlehandedly leaving to run a huge farm.

But Twisters’ worst crime is the bleed of the Glen Powell effect. Tyler starts off as a classic Powell archetype, all swagger and teeth gleam. But as the film progresses he becomes obsessed with Kate. For example, when Kate calls a twister “beautiful” the camera holds for an uncomfortably long time on Powell’s moon face. Is Tyler actually a stalker? He invades Kate’s personal space at every opportunity. In less than a week he berates her, chases her in his truck, hassles her repeatedly at her motel room and then, after finding her home address, he rocks up unannounced, invades Kate’s workroom and rifles through her personal belongings(!) while Edgar-Jones is only permitted to look mildly peeved. Yeah, yeah Powell is hot, but this is not a good look for 2024, it wasn’t even good in 1996.

Twisters is a great disaster movie with perhaps an unintended message: If you feel it, leave it alone.

Twisters is in UK cinemas now and opens in the US on 19th July.