2024 - TWISTERS, a big dumb summer movie

A big dumb summer movie with the emphasis on dumb.  Actor Daisy Edgar Jones is a brilliant scientist named Kate Carter who only seems to wear a wardrobe of tank tops.  Kate has invented a way to stop tornadoes by shooting sponges or something into them thereby improbably sucking the water out of them.  After a failed test which results in the deaths of most of her science team she goes into mourning.  Five years later she's back chasing tornadoes but this time she is competing with YouTube video star Tyler Owens a character clearly modeled after real life YouTube video star Reed Timmer whose videos are frankly a lot more entertaining than this. Tyler Owens is played by Glen Powell in an entertaining performance.  In fact Powell is the best thing about this movie, he really turns on the charisma.

This silly movie features lots of tornado destruction from evil tornadoes, evil land grabbers exploiting people who have lost their homes and Kate Carter in tank tops when at times a rain coat might be a little more appropriate.  When you get right down to it Twisters is pretty much an updating of an old Irwin Allen movie.

Twisters supposedly cost between 155 - 200 million dollars. You can be sure they didn't spend it on the screenplay which for the most part is just a collection of cliches with lines like," you don't face your fears, you ride 'em," and "if you feel it, chase it."  We're not exactly talking Harold Pinter dialog here.

 

As I've stated before, movies like this aren't really directed or acted they are made by a bunch of computer nerds sitting at their desks making stuff spin around on their computer monitors.  Supposedly Twisters has nothing to do with the original Twister movie but don't kid yourself this is the exact same movie as the first one.  I have nothing against an audience pleasing summer movie but does this one have to be so dumb?

Written (barely) by Mark L. Smith, the running time is 122 minutes.