by Josh Sewell
Twisters
(Rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language and injury images. Opens in theaters on July 19.)
Legacyquels have been a studio staple for decades (Martin Scorsese made The Color of Money way back in 1986), but they really exploded after 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens reinvigorated a tired franchise. Since then, audiences have been subjected to countless attempts to breathe life into intellectual properties with recognizable titles and not much else.
Most of the time, as with the aforementioned Star Wars franchise, these flicks involve aging actors from previous installments passing the torch to a new generation of movie stars. Unless you’re Tom Cruise, I guess. In both Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Top Gun: Maverick, he’s clutching that baton to his chest while telling his young costars they can’t have it yet.
This weekend’s Twisters, however, attempts something rare in a legacyquel; it’s essentially just a remake of the original Twister (which made a ton of money in the summer of 1996) with a younger, hotter cast and new technology. Granted, there are a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them nods to the previous version to let fans know it takes place in the same world. But, for the most part, this is a stand-alone story that doesn’t require new viewers to go back and watch the older one. The only returning stars are the tornadoes.
Lee Isaac Chung (writer-director of 2020’s beautiful immigrant drama Minari) makes the jump from indies to blockbusters with this entertaining reminder of what summer movie season is made for. It’s not an industry-altering saga and it doesn’t have to make a billion dollars before it’s called a success. It’s simply a harrowing two-hour journey with compelling characters risking their lives to protect others. I appreciated the return to basics and left the theater with a smile on my face.
Twisters centers on Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a former storm chaser haunted by a traumatic encounter with a tornado. Now a meteorologist based in New York City, she is lured back to Tornado Alley in Oklahoma when her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) offers an opportunity to test an innovative technology that could save lives.
That’s where she meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a charming, reckless social media star. As Kate, Tyler and their competing teams are thrust into one dangerous situation after another, they must work together to survive and help innocent people in the path of these deadly storms.
Mark L. Smith’s screenplay (based on a story by Joseph Kosinski) struggles a bit with tonal issues, possibly hinting at behind-the-scenes disagreement about what kind of movie the studio wanted to make. An action-comedy? A cautionary tale about climate change? A cheesy Armageddon-style disaster flick? A serious drama about overcoming trauma and grief?
(Rated PG-13 for intense action and peril, some language and injury images. Opens in theaters on July 19.)
Legacyquels have been a studio staple for decades (Martin Scorsese made The Color of Money way back in 1986), but they really exploded after 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens reinvigorated a tired franchise. Since then, audiences have been subjected to countless attempts to breathe life into intellectual properties with recognizable titles and not much else.
Most of the time, as with the aforementioned Star Wars franchise, these flicks involve aging actors from previous installments passing the torch to a new generation of movie stars. Unless you’re Tom Cruise, I guess. In both Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and Top Gun: Maverick, he’s clutching that baton to his chest while telling his young costars they can’t have it yet.
This weekend’s Twisters, however, attempts something rare in a legacyquel; it’s essentially just a remake of the original Twister (which made a ton of money in the summer of 1996) with a younger, hotter cast and new technology. Granted, there are a couple of blink-and-you’ll-miss-them nods to the previous version to let fans know it takes place in the same world. But, for the most part, this is a stand-alone story that doesn’t require new viewers to go back and watch the older one. The only returning stars are the tornadoes.
Lee Isaac Chung (writer-director of 2020’s beautiful immigrant drama Minari) makes the jump from indies to blockbusters with this entertaining reminder of what summer movie season is made for. It’s not an industry-altering saga and it doesn’t have to make a billion dollars before it’s called a success. It’s simply a harrowing two-hour journey with compelling characters risking their lives to protect others. I appreciated the return to basics and left the theater with a smile on my face.
Twisters centers on Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a former storm chaser haunted by a traumatic encounter with a tornado. Now a meteorologist based in New York City, she is lured back to Tornado Alley in Oklahoma when her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) offers an opportunity to test an innovative technology that could save lives.
That’s where she meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a charming, reckless social media star. As Kate, Tyler and their competing teams are thrust into one dangerous situation after another, they must work together to survive and help innocent people in the path of these deadly storms.
Mark L. Smith’s screenplay (based on a story by Joseph Kosinski) struggles a bit with tonal issues, possibly hinting at behind-the-scenes disagreement about what kind of movie the studio wanted to make. An action-comedy? A cautionary tale about climate change? A cheesy Armageddon-style disaster flick? A serious drama about overcoming trauma and grief?
Twisters is a mixture of all those; however, once you get used to the whiplash it’s impressive to see how Chung manages to juggle all those different flavors. It helps that he can rely on an impressive cast talented enough to manage the narrative shifts.
Edgar-Jones is solid as the central character who must evolve from a young, brash kid to a damaged adult who must learn to let go of the past. Too much of that could be brutal in what’s supposed to be fun summer escapism, which is where Powell comes in.
It’s clear why Hollywood is working overtime to make him the newest superstar: he’s handsome, charming and has a track record of dazzling chemistry with co-stars, whether it’s Edgar-Jones, Sydney Sweeney (Anyone but You), Adria Arjona (Hit Man), Zoey Deutch (Set It Up), or – as I mentioned a few paragraphs ago – even Miles Teller and Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick). But Powell is no overnight success: he’s been working steadily since 2003’s Spy Kids 3 and that impressive experience is finally paying off.
Edgar-Jones might not have the showiest part, but she’s good at setting up big moments so Powell can spike them. That involves its own kind of talent, but she gets her own version in Ramos. His character could’ve easily been a third wheel, but instead he serves as both a link to Kate’s past and someone who can help her find a new version of herself.
Kiernan Shipka is terrific as well, making a big impression despite limited screen time. Apparently, that’s her job this summer – she also plays a small but pivotal role in last weekend’s horror hit Longlegs. Hopefully, these films will serve as a springboard into bigger parts. It feels like she’s on the precipice of her own Powell-style breakthrough.
For all the bellyaching earlier this summer about the death of the theatrical experience, I think Twisters has a chance to surprise people with its staying power. Based on the gigantic line of people trying to get into the press screening I attended, there’s an anticipation for it I didn’t expect.
I certainly wouldn’t mind a return to this kind of big-budget filmmaking. Chung focuses on character just as much as spectacle, with the understanding viewers won’t care what happens to these people if we can’t connect to them on a human level.
Grade: B+
Home Entertainment Spotlight
The Last Stop in Yuma County
(Rated R for violence and language. Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD.)
The debut feature from writer/director Francis Galluppi (currently working on the next Evil Dead installment) hit Blu-ray earlier this week. The premise involves a traveling salesman (Jim Cummings) getting stranded at a rest stop in Arizona right before two unhinged bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan) show up and take everyone hostage. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette and three commentary tracks.
Tarot
(Rated PG-13 for horror violence, terror, bloody images, some strong language and drug content. Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD.)
In this horror flick written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, a group of friends (Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson and Jacob Batalon) accidentally unleash an evil force when they violate the sacred rule of Tarot readings: never use someone else’s deck. They all come face-to-face with fate in a race to escape their foretold doom. Special features include two behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes and a digital copy of the film.
Edgar-Jones is solid as the central character who must evolve from a young, brash kid to a damaged adult who must learn to let go of the past. Too much of that could be brutal in what’s supposed to be fun summer escapism, which is where Powell comes in.
It’s clear why Hollywood is working overtime to make him the newest superstar: he’s handsome, charming and has a track record of dazzling chemistry with co-stars, whether it’s Edgar-Jones, Sydney Sweeney (Anyone but You), Adria Arjona (Hit Man), Zoey Deutch (Set It Up), or – as I mentioned a few paragraphs ago – even Miles Teller and Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick). But Powell is no overnight success: he’s been working steadily since 2003’s Spy Kids 3 and that impressive experience is finally paying off.
Edgar-Jones might not have the showiest part, but she’s good at setting up big moments so Powell can spike them. That involves its own kind of talent, but she gets her own version in Ramos. His character could’ve easily been a third wheel, but instead he serves as both a link to Kate’s past and someone who can help her find a new version of herself.
Kiernan Shipka is terrific as well, making a big impression despite limited screen time. Apparently, that’s her job this summer – she also plays a small but pivotal role in last weekend’s horror hit Longlegs. Hopefully, these films will serve as a springboard into bigger parts. It feels like she’s on the precipice of her own Powell-style breakthrough.
For all the bellyaching earlier this summer about the death of the theatrical experience, I think Twisters has a chance to surprise people with its staying power. Based on the gigantic line of people trying to get into the press screening I attended, there’s an anticipation for it I didn’t expect.
I certainly wouldn’t mind a return to this kind of big-budget filmmaking. Chung focuses on character just as much as spectacle, with the understanding viewers won’t care what happens to these people if we can’t connect to them on a human level.
Grade: B+
Home Entertainment Spotlight
(Rated R for violence and language. Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD.)
The debut feature from writer/director Francis Galluppi (currently working on the next Evil Dead installment) hit Blu-ray earlier this week. The premise involves a traveling salesman (Jim Cummings) getting stranded at a rest stop in Arizona right before two unhinged bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan) show up and take everyone hostage. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette and three commentary tracks.
(Rated PG-13 for horror violence, terror, bloody images, some strong language and drug content. Now available on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD.)
In this horror flick written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, a group of friends (Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson and Jacob Batalon) accidentally unleash an evil force when they violate the sacred rule of Tarot readings: never use someone else’s deck. They all come face-to-face with fate in a race to escape their foretold doom. Special features include two behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes and a digital copy of the film.
Reach out to Josh Sewell at joshsewell81@gmail.com
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