A satisfying recap to be seen on the big screen

Key Takeaways

• The heart-pounding action scenes of the twisters grab the viewers’ attention
• Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell deliver great performances
• The film misses the deeper themes it could have raised

Twisters is now available to buy ($24.99) or rent ($19.99) on popular video-on-demand platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Google Play, and YouTube TV. For those willing to wait, Twisters will finally be available to stream on Peacock before the end of the year. A specific release date has not been announced, but we can guess that the film will be released on this platform around October 2024, when the DVD/Blu-Ray is also expected to be available in stores.

So is this new movie worth paying more for streaming? Here is our review:

“Sometimes the old ways are the best ways.”

It’s a nostalgia trip you’ll want to take

This line in the first act of the new film Twisters, delivered with appropriate gravitas by Glen Powell, in many ways sums up the entire ethos of this film. In the scene, Powell’s character refers to how Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character Kate Carter mysteriously predicts the weather by watching dandelion seeds fall to the ground. However, as an audience member, at the time I felt as if Powell was speaking directly to me, telling me that this film was going to be an old school thriller, the kind that couldn’t really be made, and I was young. a good time, a favorite that seems to have been absent from the multiplex in recent years

I was fascinated by that thought.

As someone who grew up loving the original Twister (then rode the Twister: Ride it Out attraction at Universal Studios Florida over 100 times, including once on its last day of operation in 2015), this film has always been on my radar (no -pun intended) for a long time. The personal stakes were high, as I knew I didn’t want to just watch a movie that just retreads the same ground as the original Twister. But I also didn’t want anything too different. Fortunately, as a remake/sequel (or re-quel, as it’s now widely called) Twisters gets the balance between new and familiar mostly right.

Release date, rating, and running time

Twisters is now showing in theaters

I caught Twisters on its US opening night, July 18, 2024, in Florida. The film runs for 2 hours and 2 minutes and carries a PG-13 rating. Now streaming on major VOD platforms.

Rethinking the 2024 crisis

Twisters are similar, but different

The beginning of Twisters has a lot in common with the original Twister. Like Helen Hunt’s character in the ’90s movie, the main character Kate suffers an unimaginable tragedy at the beginning of the film that gives her severe trauma and PTSD. However, unlike Hunt’s character, who becomes more interested in hurricane research following her personal tragedy, Kate blames herself for what happened and runs away from her past, trading the windy wheat fields of Oklahoma for the skyscrapers of New York City, where she arrives. he gets a job as a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

However, when her old friend Javi (played by Anthony Ramos), the only other survivor of the incident, comes to her office asking for help with a research project for his new company, Kate feels she can’t refuse, reluctantly accepting. returning to Oklahoma for a week, with the promise that his help will give scientists the data they need to better understand hurricanes and ultimately, save lives.

It’s here that we meet Glen Powell electrician Tyler Owens, an Arkansas-based YouTuber who has amassed a million followers online with his storm-themed live streams. Owens meets a group of videographers, science enthusiasts, a drone operator, and a legion of fans who seem to follow him around the country as he chases storms. Kate is immediately displeased with Tyler’s country dancing and outrageous antics (she shoots fireworks at a bomb in one scene) and a feud ensues between the two. And if you’ve seen the original Hallmark Channel movie, you know exactly where that sequence of episodes is going.

And honestly, that prediction works well here, as most of the film is action-oriented. Twisters has some truly searing disaster scenes that capture the incredible power of one of nature’s deadly forces. Buildings, windmills, a motel, and a movie theater are all pulled off to great effect here, with expert camerawork and clever sound design essential to drawing viewers into the action.

Verdict: Stream!

Deeper themes are touched upon, but never fully explored

In the end, what separates a good disaster movie from a great one is not high-tech special effects or thrilling performances, but the way disaster stories use a weather event, an unknown attack or a monster to tap into deeper themes. Godzilla: Minus One is a great example of a recent disaster movie that went beyond your typical paint-by-numbers disaster story, treating audiences to a heartwarming story about a Japanese World War II pilot struggling to move on from the trauma he experienced during it. immediately after the war. By using the monster as a metaphor for something deeper, this film (and others like it) manages to transcend being a typical monster-of-the-mill film and become something else.

Twisters is almost there, but not quite. Major themes such as the effects of ongoing trauma and profiting from disasters are briefly touched upon, but never fully addressed in a meaningful way, which is a huge missed opportunity. In its attempt to play things as safe as possible, Twisters loses out on being more than just a fun time at the movies, which is a shame, but it’s definitely not a seller.

With intense action setpieces, solid performances from leads Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones, and clever nods to the original Twister film, Twisters is a viable re-quel. It won’t change your life, but it will definitely have you grinning from ear to ear, as doom descends upon our heroes, which is what summer movies should all aim for. This movie is definitely worth streaming!