I was not up on the Twister train to be honest with you, I had never seen the original film until earlier last week naturally in preparation for this new soft requel Twisters, and to be honest I only held the film in medium esteem – all of the practical effects were sensational and remain so, however there wasn’t a single computer effect that had stood the test of time for me, the standout of course was the mighty ensemble of character actors and the intriguing His Girl Friday set-up of our two leads. So when it came to Twisters (somewhere someplace someone must have borrowed James Cameron’s dry eraser pen) I was hopeful and overall had a pretty fun time, if even I can’t get behind some of the critics expounding it as the next Maverick, which for my money in many ways this just is not.
Now heading into Twisters I made the choice to not be as cynical as I sometimes am, perhaps this was tempered by already listening to a few interviews with the director and not much caring for the original film. The particular brand of cynicism I chose to put to the side was how this huge studio action epic was being directed by Lee Isaac Chung, director of the small and touching film Minari. Now, who am I to say that these sorts of huge films are not what Chung has wanted to do all along and the idea of him being sucked up in the studio system is hardly the fate worse than death some critics often prescribe to it. Minari to Twisters after watching the film surprisingly feels more of a natural leap than you’d first think, elements of setting and characters feel of a kin, even if narrative and writing do not. Overall Chung manages to bring a very solid craftsman’s hand to the majority of the films dramatic scenes away from the titular twisters and more importantly brings a sterling level of direction to the films handful of incredibly intense action sequences, that lean more into horror than any other genre. The quality of these sequences far outweighs the rest of the film however and although a lot of care has clearly been taken to place emphasis and focus on spending time with our characters away from the huge set pieces, it can’t be helped it seems. Everything just feels a touch too sanitised and that is certainly where this film stands lesser to its predecessor. In regards to the action, although in many ways it is superior, it just cannot help but feel entirely too effects heavy. Although there is a clear level of practicality that is visible, it does not feel tangible to say the least.
But much like
the first film the action is merely a backdrop to a romance, which in this case
is brought to us by Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. Now I say this, but the
film actually for the most part pulls its punches on the romance and just
spends the whole film flirting with the idea and the chemistry to be frank is
far better off screen in interviews around the film than it is on. It’s not
that they’re not believable, but something just doesn’t feel right. Most of my criticism
of Twisters in fact comes from an overall sense that the film just lacks
something at its core, yet I don’t know what it is. Perhaps it is false expectations,
perhaps it is that these films in general don’t do much for me. Jones and
Powell for instance both do very solid work bringing their characters to the
screen, and the vast ensemble beyond them also attempts to a bring similar variety
of characters to the fore, but everything unfortunately does feel like a very
well made re-hash. This is better than Twister in some ways and Twister
is better than this in some ways, but neither are terrific for me to be honest
and neither are films I will return to with any speed – although I had a lot more
fun with this one in the IMAX than some recent films of its ilk.
A solid 6/10 with some really top notch action sequences and a fairly enjoyable cast of characters, just slightly overweighed by an imbalance of what I can only describe as studio cleanliness. It all just feels a little too slick around the edges and where that majorly helps of course with the sensational set pieces that Chung directs, it hinders in regards to some of the character work. Powell is his normal charming self and Jones brings a nice drama to the affair, but overall the romance was lacking and although this is better than a lot of action summer fare we’ve had thus far – one can’t help but feel that we can still do a lot better. Let’s not settle, just yet folks.
P.S. No piece of effective metatextual film-making has given me more of a thrill than having the final set piece of this film be set inside a movie theatre and have Glen Powell, one of the stars who has done the most for us to bring movie theatres back, screaming at the camera “WE HAVE TO GET PEOPLE INTO THE MOVIE THEATRE!” Subtle? Perhaps not. Hilarious and effective? Completely. And above all else the fact that this sort of winking didn’t distract from the intensity and power of this finale speaks even more highly about it.
- Thomas Carruthers
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