No assembly RequireD

There is a moment in the grand finale of TWISTERS when a storm hits a movie theater and a character screams ‘This theater wasn’t built to withstand what’s coming!” It is a moment that comes with a hysterical sense of irony since yes you will be watching it in a theater and yes most likely your theater and projector can handle director Lee Isaac Chung’s follow up to 2020’s “Minari.” However there is still such great enjoyment knowing that you are watching a movie that wants to be pure summer popcorn entertainment, and best of all is greatly succeeding. TWISTERS, a legacy sequel if you will, wears its Amblin/Spielberg produced heart on its sleeve which greatly compliments its desires to be both a film of excitement and humane morality. It’s a party film in its tailgate attitude, but Chung knows the heart of this film lies within its wild bunch characters as well as his continuous appreciation for the great American landscape. A filmmaker who harnesses the beauty of nature gets to continue to show the horrors of what happens when this beauty is destroyed both by nature and by human. This is also the kind of film that creates a movie star and leaves you with zero doubt that said star is anything but genuine. A film that instantly sweeps you up with all the right ingredients including the charisma of Glen Powell, the charm of Daisy Edgar-Jones, and especially a bumping country arena soundtrack that will play big at your next tailgate. Coming out in a time in the summer where its brutally hot and storms break out at any moment, TWISTERS has taken over the summer so you can either fear it or ride it, but whatever you do don’t miss out on it!

Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is terrified. A meteorologist, Kate was once a Tornado-chaser using her adrenaline addicted energy and brain power to hopefully study and finally understand what makes and breaks a tornado. For anyone unfamiliar with 1996’s “Twister” directed by Jan De Bont, the film followed Tornado chasers Bill Harding and Dr. Jo Harding (played by the late Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt respectively) who chase down tornadoes, try to understand how to possibly stop them all while finalizing their divorce. A mega blockbuster hit in 1996, “Twister” became a landmark for disaster movies and even spawned a very energetic if not corny Universal Studios theme park show. Ask anyone who was lucky enough to experience Twister…Ride It Out, and they will tell you just how damn fun it was and of course a memorable preshow from Paxton. TWISTERS thankfully wants to keep the same energy up both with its action and its players. Kate has left the tornado-chasing business after her own team, (including her boyfriend) were tragically killed during a storm that Kate blames entirely on herself. She believes it was her data and decision making that cost them their lives, not the storm itself. This makes it all the more difficult when her former teammate (and only other surviving member) Javi (Anthony Ramos) asks for her help back in Oklahoma where his new team of elite scientists and money funders have believed to figure out the perfect way to finally understand a tornado. Edgar-Jones continues to shine in roles where both vulnerability and curiosity take the lead. Kate’s reluctance to returning is strong but Edgar -Jones knows to play the curiosity as even stronger. Kate, while not jumping at the bits still has this addiction to the chaos even if she wants to believe otherwise. It’s a fun unspoken anecdote that drives Kate’s whole character. But all this will have to be handled quickly because once down in Oklahoma it has become clear that while times may have changed since 1996 stupidity in people have not. These small farm towns have become mecca for wannabe storm chasers with their ten dollar weather apps and cheap ponchos. Everyone wants in on the action including and especially Tyler freaking Owens.

It can be tough to make a movie star nowadays and some claim they do not exists anymore. However this argument is hard to defend when Glen Powell exists. Powell quickly making a big name for himself this year with Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” and of course playing ultra douche turn heart of gold in “Top Gun: Maverick.” Powell has been in the game and charming for a while (check out Everybody Wants Some! or Scream Queens please!), but for a mainstream audience TWISTERS becomes his instant shot into your heart. As Tyler Owens, Powell antes up the douchebag frat boy charm as he rolls in with a giant RAM 3500 speakers on top blasting Luke Combs. It’s a hysterical introduction that wins you over in an instant. If it was anyone else you’d be running away but with that Powell grin you can’t help but want to run into the eye of the storm with Owens. A self-made chaser and Youtuber, Owens and his team chase as many storms as they sell t-shirts, take selfies with fans and all around seem to have made a full fledged game out of this dangerous activity. Chung is having a blast shooting Owens’ team which includes loudmouth Boone (Brandon Perea), tech girl Lily (Sasha Lane), and dynamic duo Dani and Dexter (Katy O’ Brian and Tunde Adebimpe respectively). Shooting this on film also makes their every move across the American plains all the more gorgeous. One of the film big studio films that actually utilizes its CGI well, TWISTERS is so clearly shot on film (Kodak film to be exact) that you can see the graininess up close during quieter moments making you want to thank the cinema Gods for Lee Isaac Chung and his cinematographer Dan Mindel. Much like “Minari” there is always a great respect for the Southwest region and the untouched beauty it still strongly holds onto. It helps that as performers Edgar-Jones and Texas born boy Powell both genuinely feel amazed by its beauty.

For all the obstacles Owens’ team cause for Kate it is apparent their heart is in the right place which may not be able to be said the same for Javi’s newfound scientists. Edgar-Jones and Powell have a chemistry that balances between snarky, admiring and just plain hot and heavy for one another. TWISTERS knows best of all good looking people in blockbusters makes for an even more exciting watch. But attractiveness aside (although its hard to sideline) TWISTERS works best when Owen and Kate share moments of levity that is quickly overcome by all hell breaking loose. TWISTERS a disaster film, knows this does not need to be a film with countless bodies just carelessly being tossed away, instead every bit of destruction matters and truly leaves an impact. Scenes involving Kate and Owen doing their best to save others while protecting one another allow our hearts to swoon while all adrenaline to pulsate.

We can talk a lot (and we should) about the charm of the film’s leads, but even more so is the charm of director Lee Isaac Chung in his ability to take these intense moments driven less by the storm at hand but the care we have for those in danger as well as the love they bring to the game and each other. Chung may avoid many of the legacy sequel staples (there is no mention of any previous events or characters of the first film) but he knows that what made the first film so fun was its cast. A ragtag team of faces that are all too familiar now (the original team helmed Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alan Ruck, Todd Field, Jeremy Davies and more) and this time around Owens’ team with O’ Brian, Perea and Lane are all fresh faces that are one step away from their major mainstream breakout. Many of them have already had that moment in the film Twitter scene so it makes it all the more exciting when David Corenswet shows up as Scott an asshole money funder on Javi’ team all while some of the audience may or may not know he is about to don the infamous Superman cape next summer. It does not benefit the movie as a hole, but it does play into that fun element of TWISTERS carrying on the legacy of being a star maker for everyone involved in some form. And it helps that whether they are playing a good or bad person TWISTERS holds the first cast of the summer that you actually want to hangout with it anytime of the day. It does not hurt that TWISTERS is stock full of an original movie soundtrack (remember those!) featuring Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Thomas Rhett and Kane Brown just to name a few. Hell even one time Walmart yodeler Mason Ramsey has a song that will leave you dancing on your drive home. TWISTERS is a party, it’s a red solo cup film that has you running for your next Busch Light beer, as you thrown on your cowboy boots chanting Owens’ mantra , “If you feel it! Chase it!” Not a bad way to spend your summer if you ask me.

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TWISTERS WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS EVERYWHERE BY UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ON JULY 19TH