Film: “Twisters” with Glen Powell
After plane-watching “Twisters,” by default THE disaster movie of 2024, you’d think tornadoes were killing more Oklahomans than handguns.
The movie, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, follows those strange, cultish Americans known as storm chasers. In the first scene we are introduced to Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), her sort-of BF Javier (Anthony Ravis) and three other college mates as they help test Kate’s thesis on the causation of twisters.
Unfortunately things don’t go as planned due to a—wait for it—twister. Kate is so devastated she moves to Manhattan where she gives up storm-chasing in favor of weather-researching. That is, until Javi shows up five years later and persuades her to move back West and start chasing again—and subtly rekindle their romance.
Once back in OK, Kaci introduces Kate to his team as the best in the business. They are enamored of her reputation but it doesn’t hurt that she looks like a Playboy bunny. Kate initially locks horns with the leader of a rival team, Tyler (Glen Powell), a cocky good-looking “tornado wrangler.”
Sporting a white cowboy hat, Tyler has an enormous support staff, and fancy twister detection equipment. But it’s clear from the get-go that Tyler’s really knocked out by Katy.
A fierce rivalry breaks out between Javi’s people and Tyler’s team, and the latter finally gets the upper hand. Katy finds herself increasingly drawn to Tyler
not because of his looks but because he shares her obsession with twisters. So what was basically a disaster movie has turned into a love triangle between Katy, Javi and Tyler.
This is not a bad thing per se because it diverts our attention from the nonstop devastation caused by twisters. Full disclosure: the special effects are horrific, but still fun to watch—like watching a Motor-cross race. Cinematographer Dan Mindell allows the characters (and us) to get inside the conical hurricane—a feat which is both impressive and scary.
“Twisters”‘will never be in the rank of “Seven Samurai.” But the science talk seems authentic and the special effects are riveting. And if you’ve ever wanted to live somewhere that’s peaceful and quiet and far from the madding crowd, you might want to skip the Oklahoma plains, where twisters are about as common as deliveristas causing havoc in 212. The end.