Almost 28 years after the original tornado disaster film hit the big screen with Twister, we are being treated to a new take on the classic with Director Lee Isaac Chung’s version called Twisters. The question is “Does this live up to the hype of the original?” I guess we’ll find out. 

Our story takes place in Oklahoma as we follow storm chaser and college student, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones). She is trying to destroy a tornado using a concept she created to gain grant money for her PhD. In doing so, the tornado she tries to extinguish is an EF5 instead of an EF1.  The EF5 prevents the chemical components from working and this results in the loss of her boyfriend and two other college friends who were helping with project “Dorothy.” Five years go by, and Kate is working for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in New York City. She is approached by her former colleague and friend who was at the scene of the incident five years ago, Javi (Anthony Ramos), and he is asking Kate to help study tornadoes. The goal is to help people in Oklahoma that must deal with the devastation of losing their homes. She agrees to do so and is introduced to the hot head, Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), who calls himself the “Tornado Wrangler” on YouTube. As Javi’s research team and Owens compete to find the perfect tornado to study, Kate and Tyler start to form a connection that seems to be unexpected because of how opposite they are. As Kate continues to struggle with the repercussions of what happened when she last went storm chasing, she finds the strength in herself to try her theory out once more with the help of Tyler. Will it be all for nothing? Or can Kate redeem herself and save the people of Oklahoma from these deadly tornadoes?

It's hard not to watch this film and think of the original. From the very first scene to the very last all I could think about was Bill Paxton’s and Helen Hunt’s characters going through this insane journey of surviving tornadoes so Paxton can get Hunt to sign divorce papers. Spoiler Alert, she doesn’t sign them, and they stay together. Now, don’t get me wrong, even though I was thinking about the original I still had some fun watching this new rendition. I think the show stealer was Glen Powell, but I did like the chemistry between Powell and Jones. It felt very natural and not like some cheesy rom-com. The special effects were somewhat impressive, but I do have to say some of them did not look great, and I think the original did a better job. There are effects that make you feel like you are looking at a real tornado, but there are also many scenes where you could just tell it was a CGI funnel wiping across the screen. That did disappoint me a bit because the first film really made it feel real. 

If you want excitement and the thrill of what it’s like to be up close and personal with a tornado, go see this film in theaters at least once. This is one of the few Summer Blockbusters that has been popular this year. Even though I do lean more towards watching the original over the new reboot, it’s worth the watch.
 
Rating: 3.7 out 5