The 1996 film Twister was born when Steven Spielberg asked a special effects company whether they might be able to magic up a tornado on screen. They pulled it off, and the film that was built around their CGI twisters ended up being one of the hits of the year, thanks in part to its convincing visuals, but also to solid writing, a clean, legible plot, a knockout supporting cast and Helen Hunt’s magnetic lead performance.
Now, after nearly 30 years, Twister is back – with an “s” on the end of its name, a new cast, and even better special effects. Thankfully, much of the spirit of the first film lives on in the sequel, even if Hunt is much missed. Twisters is not quite as silly as the original – no cow is swept bemusedly up by a gust of wind, no cinema screen showing The Shining is ripped to shreds by yet another “big one” – but the film can hardly be accused of keeping too straight a face. At one point, a chicken coop is yanked into the air by a tornado; then a solitary, clucking hen is deposited on to our heroine’s car bumper.
She is Kate Cooper (Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones), a meteorologist and country girl who is eerily good at intuiting when a tornado is on its way. As a child, her mother (Maura Tierney) proudly reveals, Kate was even better at predicting storms than cows. But she has put her youthful storm-chasing days behind her, following a traumatic encounter with a monster twister that killed her boyfriend and nearly claimed her life too.
Five years on, she is having a sad, drab time in New York when her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos), who also almost died in the killer tornado incident, turns up at her work and begs her to come with him to Oklahoma. A particularly vicious posse of tornadoes is on the way, he tells her; only she will be able to intuit exactly where and when they will touch down. The good people of Oklahoma need her!
Duly arrived in Oklahoma, Kate meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a self-described “tornado wrangler” who documents his efforts on YouTube to a huge following. While Javi has set up a sleek business, analysing tornadoes for unscrupulous clients, Tyler and his crew take a more anarchic approach. They like to drive as close as they can to twisters for the thrill, so that they can do stuff like set off fireworks inside them. Joining this bunch for the ride is an English journalist (an enjoyably buttoned-up Harry Hadden-Paton), who is writing a piece about tornado hunters and realises too late that he’s out of his depth.
The film is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, whose previous film, Minari, was critically acclaimed but rather vague and ponderous. Going in, I was worried Chung might mill about for too long before getting to the tornado action that everyone will have paid to see. But he rarely wastes time here; the film does sag in the middle, but only slightly.
Plus, he carries off the set pieces with flair: a tornado laying waste to a rodeo, sending horses and bulls thundering through terrified crowds; the final, inevitable showdown in an idyllic town. It helps that the tornadoes themselves are a triumph: menacing and majestic, realistic, ear-splittingly noisy.
Still, there are problems. The film depends, like its predecessor, on the credibility and appeal of the romance between the two leads. In this case, it’s hard to feel greatly committed to Kate and Tyler getting together, mainly because Kate is a bit of a drip. She seems to be battling with PTSD (or something similar), but spends far too much of the film being sarcastic and distant to all in her vicinity, including her mother.
Happily, Powell more than makes up for her chilliness. He drenched the 2023 film Hit Man (available, and recommended, on Netflix) with his distinctively chipmunk-like charisma, and he does the same here. He even seems to relish delivering clichés and cringeworthy dialogue, such as: “You don’t face your fears – you ride ’em” and “Tell me. What was your first tornado?”
Powell and the howling, hulking twisters that careen about, ruining things, are two good reasons to see this film. Many viewers, I suspect, won’t find it as charming as the original, but it still offers a great ride – and consolation that, however bad a summer Britain is having, our weather could be a lot worse.
“Twisters” is in cinemas now
[See also: The immersive sounds of the Polish wilderness]
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This article appears in the 17 Jul 2024 issue of the New Statesman, The American Berserk