Twisters (2024)

[Jon Dent]

The original "Twister" has aged like fine wine, and probably has a better reputation now than it did in 1996. Never considered particularly strong in plotting or realism, it's still undeniably charming thanks to a memorable cast, great use of (at the time) cutting edge visual effects, and an audio mix that was arguably one of the first to really push the limits of just how loud those newfangled digital surround formats could make something.

"Twisters" isn't going to have the same effect. It's competently made, has appealing actors, perfectly adequate special effects, and a solid sound mix, but it's nothing special. The "Twister" quirkiness that we all loved isn't there. They try, but its a pale imitation at best. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt's characters weren't the strongest, but the actors made them feel like real people with a real history together. Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell have the marquee good looks, but their characters are even more thinly sketched and they fail to do much with them. Storm chaser support team version 2.0 fails to live up as well. Nobody here says "the cone is silent" with the same corny gravitas as 'Preacher' from the original, and there's no Rabbit, Dusty, Beltzer or "The Communicator" either.

It feels weird defending a 1990's disaster movie as some kind of precious lost artifact, but there's a definite swagger and attitude in the original "Twister" that "Twisters" doesn't come close to matching. It's just another faceless, bland, disposable blockbuster that feels empty. They don't make 'em like they used to.

But hey, the tornados do look pretty good when they're actually shown, even if they don't feel 'alive' like they did in the original. Apparently they make oil refineries explode real good.

[Marcel Birgelen]

The original movie had some great on-screen chemistry and some of that nostalgic innocence of 1990s disaster movies going for it, combined for some state-of-the-art CGI and practical effects for the time. This movie has neither of that. While there are decades between the special effects of this movie and the original one, I still sometimes felt like I'm watching some series on TV, rather than a major summer blockbuster... Entirely forgettable and just another nostalgia-motivated Hollywood money-grab...

[Jon Dent]

Exactly how I felt. It's just okay on it's own, but it's a poor follow up to Twister.

Top Gun: Maverick proved that it's not impossible to make a good sequel to an old movie, but they really screwed the pooch here.

Can't complain too much though, as it's been doing AWESOME business with us, even with Deadpool playing next door.

[Frank Cox]

What is that leather strap the heroine wears though a good part of the movie that looks like a shoulder holster from the back?

Some kind of a camera strap?

[Marcel Birgelen]

What is that leather strap the heroine wears though a good part of the movie that looks like a shoulder holster from the back?

Some kind of a camera strap?

You sir, are right. It's a camera harness. Made for those fashionable cow boys and girls that can't possibly carry a camera with a normal neck strap.

To be honest, I've looked at something similar before, but then I switched my double-brick-heavy DSLR to some DJI monstrosity with built-in gimbal and never looked back.. The only thing I really mis on that thing is a good optical zoom. What the DSLR added with better lenses, the DJI compensates with raw sensor pixels and AI-automatron-magic...

[Leo Enticknap]

HINT AT A PLOT SPOILER BELOW

I thought it was a bit better than is being given credit for above. It managed to incorporate a sorta PSA message (that learning about extreme weather events can be useful in mitigating human and economic damage) without giving it a political or ideological twist. And the character development in the script whereby in the early scenes, we were being set up to regard the "asshole with a YouTube channel" as the villain, but then it was gradually revealed that things weren't as simple as that, was clever. The movie also refrained from portraying rural communities as Deliverance-style redneck stereotypes, which was also refreshing.

As usual, a flawless experience and technical presentation at the Harkins Mountain Grove in Redlands, CA. Perfect focus, light level, convergence, and masking, good and nicely tuned audio, a clean auditorium, staff were friendly. The full parking lot and significant walk into the theater were finally a sign of hope for the industry, for a change.

[Mike Blakesley]

We are playing it now -- had to wait for Deadpool to finish - and getting great reactions. Crowds are above average but not blockbuster-y. It's been busy enough that we haven't had a chance to watch it, in spite of the stupid freaking PVOD release. Wonder how much that has cost us in terms of lost ticket sales.