MOVIE APPRAISAL: TWISTERS (2024)
WARNING: THERE IS NO STORY IN THIS FILM!
If you are someone who does not need a story to watch a film, feel free to skip ahead and watch Twisters instead. For everyone else, you might withstand even a fierce tornado, but don’t take your chances with this movie.
For those unaware, Twisters is a film about storm chasers. Please don’t confuse it with the 1996 movie ‘Twister,’ which is also about storm chasers but is a much better film. The 2024 film ‘Twisters’ is neither a sequel nor a remake. It’s simply a twisted tale about a pale girl who wants to tame a tornado.
Summary of the ‘Twisters’
Kate Carter works in Oklahoma with her “storm chaser” friends Javi, Addy, Praveen, and her boyfriend, Jeb. They attempt to reduce the intensity of a tornado by launching barrels of sodium polyacrylate beads (the same material used in diapers) into an EF1 tornado. Kate, a naturally gifted child, can predict the movements of tornadoes and storms using her sensory powers, which she was born with and never taught. The team chases an EF1 tornado to test their theory and secure funding for further research. Despite Kate’s remarkable predictive abilities, a divine intervention causes the EF1 tornado to escalate into an EF5, tragically killing everyone except Kate and Javi. Devastated, Kate blames herself for underestimating nature’s power and decides to quit storm chasing and her experiments altogether. Javi joins the military.
Five years later, Kate works for a US scientific and regulatory agency responsible for forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, charting the seas, conducting deep-sea explorations, and managing fishing and marine mammal protection. Despite this, her life is portrayed as mundane and depressing, still overshadowed by the trauma of losing her boyfriend to the EF5 tornado. The film never shows the specifics of Kate’s work at the agency. Javi surprises Kate with a visit, offering her a one-week opportunity to join his team in scanning a tornado using a new technology called phased-array radar. Initially, Kate declines, but she changes her mind after Javi sends her a news report about a tornado destroying a town without warning, assuring her that they have a chance to save lives. This sequence happens so quickly that the audience never gets to experience Kate’s emotional turmoil. This scenario serves as a prime example of poor writing.
Kate and Javi join the Storm Par team in Oklahoma, which consists of a group of well-educated but unimpressive individuals. Popular YouTube storm chaser Tyler Owens, known as the “Tornado Wrangler,” also arrives from Arkansas, hoping to capitalize on a predicted tornado outbreak. He is accompanied by a team of misfits and unrecognized geniuses. This is when the film becomes more engaging. Glen Powell, as Tyler Owens, manages to capture attention on screen, even in dull scenes, hinting at a rising star. After this, the movie follows a standard commercial plot line. In the end, Kate manages to tame a tornado using her sodium polyacrylate beads and saves a town. However, none of the characters had anything at stake, and there was no significant development or evolution. Even when character arcs were attempted, they felt disconnected and boring. In trying to break free from clichés, the writer abandoned all logical storytelling. And most importantly, this is a science fiction movie, so none of the science is actually factual. No one can actually tame a tornado in reality.
Conclusion
The movie is a complete disappointment! Daisy Edgar-Jones’ portrayal of Kate Carter, a character with a traumatic past who ultimately triumphs, didn’t seem to resonate. The line, “Go save the world, baby!” from the mother to the little girl, only added to the film’s shortcomings. While it might have provided a decent theater experience for some, I felt the film lacked a substantial plot and relied too heavily on good PR for its box office success. In contrast, “Twister,” directed by Jan De Bont, offered a compelling story about two storm chasers on the brink of divorce working together to create an advanced weather alert system. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton delivered memorable performances, and the film was technically brilliant with an impressive narrative. I watched the film many years ago in 2010. I wish I had not tainted that memory by watching “Twisters.” Hopefully, I will not share anything more about bad movies in my blog. Instead, I will recommend some great movies and documentaries in the coming days.
