“Twisters”

Taking the ridiculous to a new level, the disaster spectacle “Twisters” falls short in delivering a compelling story to match its go big or go home premise. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, the movie plunges viewers into a relentless tornado “outbreak,” setting the stage for a half-baked sequel that’s so stupid, it’s actually a challenge to suspend disbelief.

Former storm chaser Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is haunted by an encounter with a killer tornado while she was in college in Oklahoma. It was a disastrous day, and she continues to live with survivor’s guilt years later. Now living in New York City, she is lured back into the field by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) with the promise of testing a groundbreaking new storm tracking and mapping system. The science-minded pair meet the reckless, renegade storm chaser and social media superstar Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who seems more concerned about getting views and likes rather than contributing anything meaningful. But as the storm season quickly intensifies, there is a scary proliferation of deadly tornadoes that leave nothing but devastation in their path.

Amidst it all, Kate and Tyler find themselves competing to be the first to document each funnel for entirely different reasons. All of this is so dumb. There’s no reason for these people to be racing to get to the tornado first, but Chung tries to create a sense of urgency and drama by pitting them against each other. The plot is straightforward: see tornado, chase tornado, repeat. While this tried-and-true formula offers fleeting thrills, it quickly becomes tedious. There’s only so much humans can do to fight back at killer forces of nature, and there are laughably idiotic scenarios like a character shooting fireworks into the funnel of a tornado just to see if he can.

Most of the film is divided between show-stopping tornado “attacks” and Powell making lovey-dovey eyes at the camera (we get it: he’s good looking)! I suppose there’s no arguing the fact that everyone loves an easy-on-the-eyes tornado wranglin’ hunk, but even his charm can’t carry the movie.

The film’s science is absolutely laughable, with tornadoes depicted as nearly sentient forces capable of reducing buildings to rubble in seconds and sucking humans into the sky while somehow sparing people’s hats.

The special effects, and especially the sound design, are impressive, creating a visceral experience of the storms’ fury. The action sequences may be visually striking, but they lack the originality and impact needed to make them memorable. What’s fun about seeing people’s homes destroyed and lives ruined?

Disaster film fans may be a bit more lenient in unearthing more to enjoy about “Twisters” than I did, because I found it to be big, loud, and dumb. Those attributes can be satisfying if they’re executede well and the story at the core of the movie is good, but this one is not. It’s heavy on the mindless, light on the fun.

By: Louisa Moore