IR Film Review: TWISTERS [Universal]
The aspect of creating a néw perspective on “Twister” 30 years after the original is a different conundrum. Weather has changed. Technology has charged. But people really haven’t. While this version in “Twisters” might be more woke per se, it doesn’t quite have the jolt of fun the original had. Whether this has to do with the actors involved or the differing directors is hard to say. The director of “Past Lives” Lee Isaac Chung might have better acting aptitude than “Twister” Jan De Bont but De Bont knew how to make a movie move. The film isn’t bad. It is entertaining. It has romance. It has tornados. And that is all good. It just seems more like an advertisement for the next Universal theme park ride. And that is all good. There is no connection to the original which might be good or bad. But no connection makes the emotional resonance have to start all over again.
The prologue sequence tries to do the same thing in a way for Daisy Edgar Jones character. It gives her something to fight for. But any number of actresses could maybe have played her tenacity versus Jo in the form of Helen Hunt. Powell’s character Owens is a little more today. He is half a braggart that turns into a scientist softie. He has his flaws but possesses a too-good-to-be-true vibe. Bill Paxton in a way as Bill in the original was a goof who happened to get a couple of things right. Anthony Ramos plays a variation on the corporate perspective but in trying to mix goodwill, the texture of what his character really is or wants gets lost. The movie tries to be modern but in a way, it is too smooth and yet clunky. It tries to be a ride but beyond tunneling into the ground, it is fairly basic. The puzzle element is missing. Maybe it is a different kind of filmmaking but is also might just be a letdown. B-
By Tim Wassberg
