Twisters

Is it better than the original?

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The Good: Being a sequel to Twister (which is a great movie), I was really hoping that they wouldn’t screw this up. I’m very glad that they didn’t. Upon the start of the film, one thing that the film didn’t shy away from was the realism of tornados. While I think we all can forget how terrifying and destructive they can be, the start of the film shows us how devastating one can be- full of death and destruction of the people and things we love. What makes the realism of the movie stand out even more is that the film constantly gives us reminders about how detrimental incompetent actions and attitudes can be to individuals. While it’s mainly only random side characters who make the poor decisions, each time something happens to them, it makes you think if you also would have made that same decision.

What I think aided the realism of the film is how tension was used and built up within the film. When there was a tense situation in the film, they didn’t shy away from keeping it and building it more and more. Situations would continually get worse and worse, and you would struggle to see how various characters would survive all of the situations thrown at them. If a tornado were to come near any one of us, I know our anxiety would continually rise until you finally knew that you were safe from the situation. That is the same feeling you felt for the characters every time they were near a tornado, and it was extremely well executed.

I also loved how modernized they made this movie feel. Not only did they make the technology more modern, they also made Glen Powell’s tornado wrangler character a YouTuber. By making that part of the group’s identity, it made it feel that the writers of the film genuinely understood how tornado wrangling would be perceived, especially by those who are younger. They understood what would make an interesting YouTube video, but also what drives the creators of the videos to make them. I can genuinely see a YouTube channel about tornado wrangling being very successful, which made this characterization stand out even more to me.

(Spoilers in this paragraph, so beware) Another part of the movie that I enjoyed much more than the original was the ending. In Twister, Helen Hunt’s character was so close to being successful with her tornado device, but she was cut short of success due to the size and destruction of the tornado they were with. In this movie, despite the odds, Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character was actually able to succeed with her experiment . Because of this, her character’s actions were actually able to have a rewarding payoff, and I think it allowed the ending of this movie to be much more satisfying than the original.

As additional cherries on top, both the acting and visuals of the movie were incredible. Every time you were near a tornado you felt that you were in it. The wind was pounding, the cars were shaking, and the destruction was staggering. When the destruction of cities were shown, the sets genuinely looked like they were pulled straight from the news. All of this together also added even more to the realism of the film.

The Meh: The only real nitpick I have with the movie is that I wish the firenado (fire tornado) actually appeared realistic. Don’t get me wrong, it looked awesome, but I think it was made to only look cool, not realistic.

Overall: This movie is awesome! I enjoyed it more than the original, and it is easily one of the best films of the year. It perfectly encapsulates the awe, terror, and anxieties of tornados even more than the original. You will be on the edge of your seat the entirety of the movie. Just make sure to see the movie in IMAX!

Rating: 4.5/5