Twisters (2024) Review: Not as Great as the Original, But Lee Isaac Chung’s Standalone Sequel Still Excels With Seamless CGI Tornadoes and Charismatic Leads

I remember when I first watched Twister in the cinema equipped with a then-innovative DTS sound system. The roaring and rumbling sound of a tornado on the big screen resulted in an immersive cinematic experience. No wonder the movie earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Sound, even though it lost to The English Patient. It was one of those unforgettable big-budget movie events that defined what it meant to be a “summer blockbuster”.

That was back in 1996 and moving forward to 2024 — or 28 years later if you are keeping score — an unlikely sequel called Twisters arrived this month. A disaster movie like Twister doesn’t need a follow-up. It works best as a one-off and any attempt to make a sequel regardless of a direct, legacy or standalone, would typically mean a desperate cash grab or a mere nostalgia bait. This is especially true if it falls under the hands of a lesser director.

But first, the story: Twisters revolves around Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones), an ambitious meteorology student with a strong intuition for detecting tornadoes. But a tragic past prompted her to retire from her storm-chasing days and five years later, she has moved on working as a deskbound analyst studying weather patterns in New York.

Then, one day, Kate’s friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos) shows up in the city and tries to convince her to join him in a plan to test a new 3D data-tracking technology for scanning tornadoes. He needs her expertise to see this through, which at first, Kate chooses to pass on his offer before eventually agreeing to take part. This brings her back to Oklahoma and from there, she and Javi alongside his crew (one of them includes next year’s Superman star David Corenswet) encounter a rival named Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who calls himself a “tornado wrangler”. He’s a daredevil of a storm chaser with an equally like-minded crew chasing the same tornadoes.

Twisters marks Lee Isaac Chung’s giant leap to the big-budget blockbuster filmmaking (reportedly cost US$200 million), best known for his acclaimed work in Minari. His prior feature filmography was dramas, making him the least expected person to helm an effect-laden blockbuster like Twisters. The movie may follow the same storytelling beats of the 1996 original — a young woman with a traumatic past, a cocky rival and a plot revolves around the storm-chasers utilising the latest technology to study tornadoes. It even references “Dorothy” from the first movie, the machine that unleashes spherical weather-sensor devices up in the air and into the vortex of a tornado.

But Chung, working from Mark L. Smith’s (The Revenant) screenplay, manages to find a middle ground honouring the original without getting all slavish over the nostalgia factor while updating his standalone sequel in a different direction. The latter has Kate’s initial plan of achieving the impossible by experimenting with her theory of “taming” the tornadoes using barrels filled with polymer. The introduction of Powell’s Tyler reflects the modern era of gaining fame with his cowboy swaggerin’ way of chasing tornadoes in style while making money selling T-shirts and has a successful YouTube channel with a million subscribers. The story may have been all about tornadoes but Chung doesn’t forget to inject a subtle human drama amid the big special effects galore. And not to mention, the underlying character arcs related to Edgar-Jones’ Kate and Powell’s Tyler on their journey of perseverance, dedication and overcoming personal fears.

The movie also sees Chung favour a more grounded approach than Jan de Bont’s creative take on incorporating his action-movie sensibilities during the tornado sequences. In other words, the set pieces here are more like watching real tornado footage minus the documentary-style visual aesthetics (thank god for that!) with a dash of Hollywood escapism. But still, his insistence on holding back his direction during some of the major tornado sequences, notably the one involving the fire tornado from the result of an oil refinery explosion feels like a missed opportunity. It sure looks spectacular watching that scene on the big screen but I wish he could have spent more time ramping it up with higher stakes.

The CGI are top-notch, all seamlessly integrated with the Oklahoma background and practical effects. The special effects team certainly deserve huge praise for creating the tornado effects as realistic as possible. Dan Mindel’s stunning cinematography vividly captured the plains of Oklahoma while the actors, notably Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell are both appealing leads. Individually, the mesmerising Edgar-Jones does a good job playing the sympathetic Kate while Powell oozes rugged charisma in his role as Tyler. Their love-hate relationship throughout the movie sees them play off each other well. Too bad the rest of the cast are mostly relegated to thankless roles with the exceptions of Anthony Ramos’ conflicted turn as Javi and David Corenswet’s perfectly obnoxious character as Javi’s self-centred business partner, Scott.

Interestingly, Top Gun: Maverick Joseph Kosinski was originally enlisted to write and direct Twisters before Lee Isaac Chung took over the project. Kosinski, however, still retains his story credit here. Overall, this standalone sequel may lack the pure adrenalin rush of the still-better 1996 original but it still delivers a thoughtful, yet entertaining summer-movie fun and thrills.