MIAMI.- Since the beginning of time, the struggle between man and nature has been a recurring theme. Whether from an animistic perspective, which projects the designs of a severe God onto meteorological phenomena, or through the lenses of modernity, which attempts to decipher unpredictable patterns with technology, the humanity has always fueled the fantasy of being able to have some kind of control or clairvoyance over the laws and whims of Mother Earth. Terrifying and fascinating, natural phenomena generate an irresistible visual hook and, as expected, the cine has known how to take advantage of this by creating a sort of subgenre around catastrophes: earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves, floods and so on have been the main antagonistic forces in many blockbusters. It is in this line that it reaches the movie theaters Twisters, a reboot/sequel to the iconic film from the 1996s and that shows us that, regardless of the century we are in, this type of stories remains more relevant than ever.
The feature film introduces us to Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a talented meteorologist who, following a traumatic experience, has retired from field work, retreating to the safety of the great Metropolis. Things get complicated for Kate when Javi (Anthony Ramos), a former classmate, wants to work with her in the development of a technology that could predict the trajectory of tornadoes. A breakthrough that, although it could save thousands of lives, forces the protagonist to return to field work and face her worst fears. In parallel, we meet Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a YouTuber with a fan following who is dedicated to chasing tornadoes to generate content on social networks. As expected, Kate and Javi will have to deal with Tyler and his team in a dynamic of rivalry that, at any moment, can become a matter of life or death.
Written by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The Boys in the Boat), based on the story by Joseph Kosinski (director of Top Gun: Maverick, Oblivion y Tron: Legacy) and inspired by the premise of Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin (screenwriters of Twister), Twisters The film takes a couple of elements from its predecessor (a couple with personal conflicts between them who must chase tornadoes for scientific reasons), but develops them by creating other layers of polarities that give depth to the script. Traumas from the past confronted with new opportunities in the present, altruism as opposed to business, the prejudices we form at first sight and how they collapse in the face of actions, the exaltation of the scientific method and the need to listen to intuition, the willingness of human beings to help or destroy in the face of tragedy, are some of the dilemmas that the characters explore during the story. This helps to sustain the conflicts during the almost two hours of the film, creating one or another interesting reading in the subtext and providing some substance to its characters who, apart from the main couple, can sometimes be a bit one-dimensional.
Directed by award-winning Lee Isaac Chung (Minari, The Mandalorian, Lucky Life), Twisters It does not have the typical aesthetics or rhythm of disaster films. Behind the sequences of massive destruction in crescendo and the first-class special effects (both on set and CGI), the story is told as a kind of road movie where the director takes the time to show us the beauty and fragility of the rural landscape. Endless roads where the sky and the horizon merge, small towns with a tempo that is usually foreign to us, gusts of wind that bring hidden messages for the protagonists, are some of the pieces that give us contemplative moments that allow us to relax before and after each catastrophe and that serve as neutral spaces to delve deeper into the dynamics between the characters. This, far from being detrimental to the rhythm, helps us to create bonds with the protagonists and thus become distressed when the conflicts brought by the tornadoes develop.
The cinematography of Dan Mindel (Star Trek, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) excels by shooting the entire feature on 35MM (like its predecessor). Beyond the look and feel so characteristic of celluloid, Mindel’s great achievement is in the handling of natural light. His job is to control it and constantly intervene to create organic transitions from a sunny day to a storm in a moment. If we add to that the visibility that is lost on a set with rain and that there is an extremely complex sequence that is shot at night having to work with different artificial light sources, but whose presence must be justified in the story, without a doubt, only for the cinematography Twisters deserves to be enjoyed in movie theaters.
The montage of Terilyn A. Shropshire (The Woman King) It is another of the key pieces of Twisters by keeping us hooked by moving between extremely dissimilar registers. Relying on the internal and hypnotic rhythm of the general shots on the road, it gradually immerses us in the eye of the hurricane, to then shake us with violent cuts to closer shots that create the external rhythm that imprints the action in each sequence of destruction. The editing also relies on parallel montage, going from Tyler and his team to Kate and Anthony, to play with the tension generated by seeing the conflict from multiple perspectives, without ceasing to emphasize the contrast of the imposing nature, the chaos that it unleashes in the structures created by man and the fragility of the characters in the face of everything that happens.
For those who are less fond of the visuals, the cast of Twisters is one of the main hooks. They overshadow the great special effects with the chemistry that they exude in their couple-mismatch dynamic. She plays the scientist who tries to approach the conflict in a rational way as opposed to the one who acts impulsively and carelessly. The fun of this, beyond the rivalry that both characters embody, is discovering that beneath their respective masks there are extremely emotional, vulnerable people who have more in common than it seems. The arc of transformation of both and how the attraction they feel is built flows organically. Although Glen Powell has a lot of charisma and is a magnet for the camera, he is not left behind by his introversion and together they work better than one could believe. For his part, Anthony Ramos starts out as the nice guy of the game and gradually moves over to the dark side, but his presence in the story ends up being diluted and almost pushed aside by the power of the leading duo (although his character is key within the story and his performance is spot on). The other secondary characters that accompany the leading trio work in their occasional interventions, but are far from being memorable or having a development that makes them interesting beyond one or another joke.
Twister
Courtesy/Universal Pictures
Twisters The film ticks all the boxes for a summer blockbuster: a good-looking lead couple with a lot of chemistry, sequences of mass destruction, light comedy, a touch of drama, a pizza of romance and solid direction that brings all these elements to fruition. Its subtext about capitalizing on other people’s tragedy, the power of social media and the need to overcome prejudices, give it a couple of layers of depth that this type of cinema usually doesn’t have. Through its imposing shots that portray the beauty of the countryside and the force of nature, the film brings us closer to life far from the city and connects us with the spaces where we remember how small and vulnerable we can be as humans. An exercise in humility that we always need in our lives. hybris as a human race to believe that we can control that mysterious force of Mother Earth that, in other times, could only be under the command of the Gods.
The best: Lee Isaac Chung’s direction and how he transforms the landscape into another character. The dynamic between Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell. The action sequences with the tornadoes. The criticism in the subtext about the monetization of other people’s misfortunes.
The bad: There are moments where the script and the staging abuse luck to save the lives of the protagonists. Anthony Ramos’ character loses some strength during the development and the closing of his arc is not entirely convincing in contrast to that of Glen Powell.
About the Author
Luis Bond is a director, screenwriter, editor and teacher. Since 2010 he has been a film critic for the web, radio and print publications. He is a Tomatometer-approved critic at ( ). His training in film has been complemented with studies in Deep Analytics and Sa. He is co-host of the podcast Axis Mundi where he delves into film analysis, literature, psychology and symbolic language.
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