Dir. Lee Isaac Chung, US, 2024, 122 mins

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos

Review by Carol Allen

Twisters describes itself as a “current day chapter” of the 1996 blockbuster Twister. Which means a similar story about dedicated tornado hunters battling one of nature’s big threats, only with younger actors and drawing on more contemporary meteorological science for its plot.

Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate Carter, who, like her predecessor in the first film, has had a tragic early encounter with a twister. In Kate’s case, while still at college she was the sole survivor among her friends, who were all killed by a tornado in a very scary establishing sequence, when on a student field study. She is however persuaded by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) to leave the comfort of her New York office, where she now studies weather patterns from a safe distance, and get back into the real action to test a groundbreaking new tornado detection and control system.

However the professionals have an enthusiastic amateur getting in their way in the person of former rodeo star Tyler (Glen Powell), who chases tornados for his live social media video stream, filming himself and his nutty team in a bright red jeep going into battle, as it were, whooping like a cowboy rounding up a recalcitrant steer.

The story is set in Oklahoma, “where the wind comes rushing down the plain” – or in this case not one but several tornadoes, which come rushing with terrifying power.

The main action is concerned with Kate and her crew trying to find a way to minimise the amount of damage being inflicted on the county – and it is a lot of damage. Vehicles being thrown through the air, houses flattened, an oil refinery blowing up, while a cinema interestingly gets devastated and yes, people get hurt, though this isn’t the sort of movie where you see too much upsetting detail of that.

The personal story of the characters however is very much subsidiary and not as interesting as in the original Twister. There is an effort to create a budding romance between Kate and Tyler but it’s a not so fine romance with no kisses. Just as well really, as he looks a bit old for her. Young Javi would be far more suitable.

But for Kate, her main relationship is with the twisters of the title – and very impressive and scary they are. I’m not sure the special effects that create them are actually that much better than the ones in the 1986 original, despite the progress that’s been made with movie technology in the intervening years, but heck, who’s counting? If you like an action movie that will virtually twirl you out of your seat, this one’s for you. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

Debuts for Premium Digital Ownership and Rental on September 2

4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD arrive on October 14