Storm chaser Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where the Crawdads Sing) agrees to go back out into the field after the death of her college classmates keeps her away for five years. She meets modern cowboy and social media "tornado wrangler" Tyler (Glen Powell, Hitman) along the way and gets more than she bargained for.
There was a serious storm cell brewing in my area of Minnesota the night I watched this. We get tornadoes, and I'm old enough to have lived through the F4 tornado that touched down in Outing, MN in 1969. Watching this was my way of whistling through the graveyard. I also have a fondness for the original Twister, and Bill Paxton.
Saying I went into this with a healthy dose of skepticism that it could live up to the original and carry the torch is putting it mildly. I am also old enough to feel like the entire cast was made up of children, who might not be mature enough to be taken seriously.
I was pleasantly surprised. Kate has enough sass and emotional resonance to carry her side, and Tyler has enough cowboy charm to carry his, and become (eventually) endearing. The effects make the tornado scenes terrifying, and the idea of "taming a tornado" is intriguing, but probably bullshit. I don't know, I'm not a physicist or a meteorologist.
I could have done without the heavy handed Oklahoma western themes and soundtrack. The call back to "If you feel it, you should chase it" was an eye-roll moment to be sure. But I can look past the five seconds of lame romance and enjoy the rest.
Three laugh out loud moments, one of which being a chicken that falls out of nowhere with perfect comedic timing. Two "oh shit" moments when the serious debris starts to fly.
Overall, if you like an action movie with a little romance and a lot of heart, this will be the movie for you. If you can't stand country music, though, I'd steer clear. Four and a half out of five, and watch for falling chickens. At least they're not cows.
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