Have you heard about the newest tornado movie? Here’s a spoiler:
There’s a big twist at the end.
“Twisters” — a sequel to director Jan de Bont’s 1996 film “Twister,” starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt — hit theaters on Friday, July 19.
The new “Twisters” has been popping up on screens and its soundtrack has been playing nonstop on radios for the last couple of months. And while I admittedly had not seen the original “Twister” film before making my way to the theater on the sequel’s opening night, I knew it was a film I couldn’t miss.
Director Lee Isaac Chung’s modernized rendition of de Bont’s “Twister” features tornado-wrangling cowboy YouTubers, top-notch meteorological technology and a lot of fireworks — metaphorically and physically.
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell lead the film, playing meteorologist Kate Carter and tornado-wrangling cowboy Youtuber Tyler Owens, respectively.
The pair fall into the enemies-to-lovers trope — starting out as opponents chasing storms before eventually hunting down twisters together to pursue Carter’s dream of dissipating tornadoes and saving lives.
The quick wit of both characters and the chemistry between the leads was one of my favorite parts of the movie.
Powell, known for “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Anyone But You,” took on a role perhaps his closest yet to his true self as the Austin-born-and-raised actor saddled up to play a cowboy. Edgar-Jones, lauded for her role in “Normal People,” took on her first action film with energy and impeccable charm.
Edgar-Jones and Anthony Ramos — who plays Carter’s college friend and fellow storm-chaser — demonstrated acting prowess as they switched between portraying young college students and 30-year-olds.
With Chung — also known for “The Mandalorian” and “Minari” — at the helm and Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, “Twisters” was sure to blow viewers away.
“Twisters” doesn’t lack in the witty secondary characters department, either.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
With Owens’ band of storm chasers, Carter’s meteorologist team and a random British journalist who’s afraid of tornadoes — played by Harry Hadden-Paton of “Downton Abbey” — the quick banter and comedic timing hit just right every time.
The graphic team on “Twisters” brought attention to detail and realistic-looking weather events across the board.
Although a disaster film, the only disaster in “Twisters” is something I won’t be the first or the last person to mention, as many reviews have pointed out the same particularity: Carter and Owens didn’t even kiss.
However, I did not mind the lack of a kiss to conclude Carter and Owens’ story.
After all, the story revolved around Carter gaining back her confidence in storm-chasing and finally defeating the tornado. The cowboy romance was a welcome side story, but the end of the movie wrapped it up perfectly.
The film also paid tribute to El Reno, Oklahoma, where the widest known tornado on record touched down in May 2013, according to the National Weather Service. The climactic, final scenes of the Twisters sequel take place in El Reno.
If any part of this review piqued your interest and you’re wondering whether to see “Twisters” in theaters, to quote Owens, “If you feel it, chase it.”
Maria Fernandez is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
