Films for Breakfast

Unlike a lot of other IP revivals from major film studios, Twisters is hardly a legacy sequel – nor does it play like a remake of the original either. Director Lee Isaac Chung (who also made the incredible Minari back in 2020) and screenwriter Mark L. Smith (The Revenant) decide to go a different route, as Twisters is kind of just its own thing for a whole new generation. The film follows storm chaser Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar Jones) who attempts to return to the field five years after a devastating accident that leaves her traumatized. She then crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a more reckless chaser who is a social media superstar. The pair and their respective competing teams find themselves in the path of multiple major storm systems converging over central Oklahoma.

I don’t know if a revival of Twister was necessarily something that I needed in my lifetime, but Lee Isaac Chung and company make a compelling case for its existence. The original Twister was a phenomenon from the 90s and was raved for its intense storm sequences and innovative technology at the time. Twisters doesn’t have the advantage of being able to surprise as it has to ride the coat tails of the original, but as someone who merely thinks Twister is fun but nothing particularly special… I found Twisters to be a more than worthy follow-up. Chung attempts to up the wow-factor with even bigger set pieces than its predecessor and having one occur every 10-15 minutes; this helps Twisters feel like a bonafide summer blockbuster of the highest degree. It truly has a relentless pace to it that I admired.

A big reason why the film works as well as it does is due to the cast at hand. Daisy Edgar Jones has proven to be an incredible actress time and time again, but her role in Twisters really solidifies her as an absolute movie star to me. She has such a magnetic screen presence and helps an already sympathetic and lovable character feel so human. Glen Powell also turns in an exceptional performance here as well. Powell has been truly taking off here lately and his screen presence here is even more of a declaration for his movie-stardom. Together, Jones and Powell’s chemistry truly ignites Twisters into being more than your average blockbuster fare; it adds a layer of personality and romance that I truly dug. They’re just as good as Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton!

Of course, when it comes to seeing Twisters, the biggest question is whether or not it delivers within spectacle and intense weather sequences – and I think it does a fairly solid job at delivering the same amount of tension as the original. That being said, I think the original film is a bit goofy as it has aged throughout the years – and I was hoping that Lee Isaac Chung would be able to deliver some more tense and realistic weather sequences this time around. While I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, Twisters is very much in the same vein as the original where it purely delivers on set pieces where you’re meant to check your brain in at the door and it never really feels like a lot is at stake – saved for two or three moments of genuine tension and terror.

By the end, it’s hard to hold Twisters within too high of standards or expectations, as it is simply trying to deliver some fun and easy summer thrills. Despite some predictable character drama and some set pieces feeling more developed than others, you can certainly do a lot worse than a blockbuster with a confident direction from Lee Isaac Chung and some truly exceptional chemistry from Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. Try to see it on the biggest and loudest screen you can!

3.5/5