Review: Twisters Deserved Its Title as a Summer Blockbuster (Spoilers).

In a world of remakes, prequels and sequels, there’s one sequel that came out this year that was actually good and brought in money and that was Twisters, the sequel to the 1996 movie, Twister. I know a lot of people have already talked about this movie including popular YouTuber, Brett Cooper, but as I have just seen it, it’s time for my take on this movie. And, as an added bonus, my brother has contributed some of his thoughts on the movie from the perspective of someone who loves tornadoes and weather in general.

#1: The Plot

The plot of Twisters is pretty straightforward but doesn’t completely rely on/remake the original movie, a problem that is found in a lot of sequel movies. The story centers around Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser who has been called out of the office to go back into the field to help her friend, Javi, study storms for a developer who’s trying to buy the destroyed land to make a profit. She later teams up with a viral storm chaser named Tyler Owens who’s known as the “Tornado Wrangler” and together, they’re able to help the storm-ravaged towns and figure out a way of stopping the tornado via releasing sodium polyacrylate into it (something my brother will talk about soon).

This plot makes it a fun, summer thriller, but one of the best parts of it was how much of the American spirit was put into this movie. There is so much pro-America messaging throughout the movie and its promotional material that it really helps it stick out from other movies that are produced now where often, America is portrayed as the bad guy.

#2: The Acting and Cameos

The acting was pretty good though the only performance I had a problem with was Glen Powell’s. Though I’ve only seen him in Top Gun: Maverick, Hidden Figures, and this movie, the range of characters he can play seems to be limited to smug, smarmy, egotistical himbos. While it works for the character he plays, he simply isn’t super likeable.

As for cameos, the only one is pretty obscure unless you’re a fan of Twister or Bill Paxton. James Paxton (son of the late Bill Paxton from the original movie) plays a disgruntled motel guest and is ultimately sucked up by a tornado. There’s also the fact that Tyler Owens was based off of the real-life storm chaser, Reed Timmer, though that’s not so much a cameo as it is just a fun fact.

#3: The Psychological B-Plot

At the beginning of the movie, Kate and some friends launch sodium polyacrylate into a tornado alongside Dorothy V (a remake of the original Dorothy from Twister), but the storm intensifies, and the tornado becomes an F5. Kate and Co. run towards an overpass (something that you should never do in real life), but she is the only one left alive as two of her friends and her boyfriend are sucked out. This inevitably leaves her traumatized and is the reason why she leaves storm chasing behind for several years before the main movie plot starts.

Now, when I saw this, I immediately thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if they explored her having to work through that trauma as the movie progresses?” and that’s exactly what we got. Not only is Twisters a movie about storms tearing through Oklahoma, it’s also a movie about people working to face their fears and learning to move on from the past. Kate goes from having a panic attack while setting up a radar in front of a tornado, to gradually driving the Tornado Wranglers’ vehicle into a tornado to stop it.

#4: No Wokeism

This movie is 100% woke-free, and it shows from the media’s reaction to it. While the director was encouraged to make it a movie about climate change and how dangerous it is (even though the climate changes all the time, sometimes for the better), he didn’t and instead made a movie based on a good story. There’s no woke messaging in Twisters; only a fun story for the whole family.

#5: The Unrealistic Science of the Movie

Though the tornadoes in the movie and the idea behind trying to stop it were fun to watch, not all of the science is exactly accurate, which is where my brother comes in. This is what he has to say on it:

“So, basically, when they’re driving away from the tornado at the beginning of the movie, they show the speedometer, which is at 80 mph and the tornado is catching up. That means that when they run to the overpass, they would’ve already been sucked up. So they’re already dead.

Next, when they go out on the field for the first time and the Tornado Wranglers drive into the tornado, they would’ve been dead because the truck had no body armor, wasn’t flush to the ground, and the augers wouldn’t hold it down that much since they only drilled down a foot or two. That and the guys from Storm Par were so close to the tornado that they would’ve been sucked up, especially Kate who was the closest to it.

Then, with the wind physics for the twin tornadoes, the grass wasn’t blowing until Kate looks at it. Then it starts moving until she looks away and begins again when she looks back at it. Once again, Javi, Kate, and the Lion team would’ve been sucked in.

At the rodeo, someone would’ve noticed that a tornado was coming, especially with all the storm chasers who were there. Someone would’ve noticed that it was a bit windy or that there was rain. The tornado would also not immediately touch down as a giant wedge right off the bat.

And when they run to find shelter and go into the motel, why didn’t they just go into the bathroom? In the debris scene, part of the bathroom is still standing. It would be much safer to go there than to take your chances in the pool. The fact that none of the chaser vehicles were totally damaged makes no sense since they were just in a massive tornado.

When the last tornado that was coming for El Reno gets to the oil refinery before hitting the town, it’s moving pretty fast, but magically stops for a few seconds for suspense. It also would’ve sucked up the Lion team before hitting the refinery. But before they got to town, they still would’ve had time to set up the radar before Javi runs to help the people. And the RV that the other Tornado Wranglers were in would’ve flipped while backing away from the tornado because it was so big and light. The same would’ve also happened to their van. And how come the tents in the town are flying away but the people aren’t?

And once again, why didn’t they try to direct the people into different buildings with bathrooms where they could hide instead of putting them all into a flimsy theater? And when Kate takes the Tornado Wranglers’ truck into the EF5, she would’ve gone flying instead of being rolled a few feet.

However, Kate’s idea of throwing the sodium polyacrylate into the tornado to disrupt it could be possible, though it hasn’t been tested yet. “

Other than that, Twisters is a good movie that I would absolutely recommend.

Until next time,

M.J. and J.M.