Welcome back to the blog readers. One of my favorite genre films around is the disaster film genre. Whether the disaster involves a tornado (like Twister (1996)), an earthquake (like San Andreas (2015)), a volcano (like Volcano (1997)), or the literal end of the world (like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009)), I love me a good disaster film. Now I have been excited for this film ever since I heard about it; firstly because Twister holds a special place in my heart, and secondly because the late Bill Paxton does as well. So would the crew be able to do the legend justice in a new installment? Stick around to find out.
Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay by Mark L. Smith and a story by Joseph Kosinski. The film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane. In the film, a disgraced tornado chaser teams up with her friend and a social media personality to chase once-in-a-lifetime tornado systems that are converging on central Oklahoma.
When a disaster film is good, it can be awesome. Just take Twister. The chemistry between Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton was hypnotic, and the effects for 1996 were ahead of their time. I was nervous going into this film, but my nerves were dashed in the first twenty minutes. The film is an entertaining thrill ride from start to finish, with the performances of Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, and Anthony Ramos all standing out along with the effects and the soundtrack.
Daisy Edgar-Jones is a curious conundrum in my opinion. I was not aware of her until I saw the film Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), a film that I was not high on (something you guys can see for yourself), but I was intrigued by her performance. In this film, she seemed like a completely different actor in my opinion. She commanded the screen in this role, as the confidence was oozing out of her. I really found myself magnetized to her, and as the heartbeat of the film I should have had that reaction. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what she has up her sleeve in the coming years, because if she takes more roles like this, she will have an Oscar one day.
Another interesting cat is Glen Powell. I have mainly seen his rise to stardom from the sidelines as I have not seen most of the films he has put out in this "Glennaissance." I did, however, see him in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and thought this guy stole the show. I think he does it here as well. Glen Powell has unmistakable charisma that I could definitely feel through the screen, and it permeated to the other characters as well. His performance was wildly entertaining and incredibly fun to watch. I would literally watch him in anything he does now because he is another actor I think will have an Oscar in the next 10 years.
Next, I want to talk about the performance of Anthony Ramos. Consider me a fan of his since he has been killing it in everything I have seen him in. From Hamilton (2020) to In the Heights (2021) to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), he has begun building an ecleptic resume thus far. And I believe that this is the most genuine performance I have seen from him thus far. There is a rawness to his performance that I have not seen from him even in In the Heights. Speaking of charisma, Lee Isaac Chung was able to pull something out of Ramos that I have not seen yet. I definitely am excited to see what he has coming up, especially with Ironheart (TBD) coming up.
The effects in this film were top notch, especially from a disaster film. Every tornado that I saw in this film were as real as could possibly be, and it literally felt like I was right there in Oklahoma with these characters. These are probably the best tornadoes I have seen in film since The Day After Tomorrow and the best disaster effects in a film since 2012. And I want to give top marks to the effects in the climax of the film, for heightening the sense of danger amongst all the characters. This film has definitely set a high bar for effects in disaster films and I cannot wait to see how far they take these effects in years to come.
The final point I want to make before I get out of here is to point out the admittedly awesome soundtrack this film contains. Now I have been on record as saying that I absolutely despise country as a genre because it is boring and completely repetitive. But the songs in this film feel like they have a little more life than most country songs I have heard. There are songs from established country stars like Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Jelly Roll, Lainey Wilson, and Thomas Rhett, but I think the song that stuck out to me the most was Combs's "Ain't No Love in Oklahoma." This song encapsulates the heart of the film and gets me invested in the film.
In conclusion, Twisters delivers the thrills and the charisma in a trio of stellar performances and incredible effects and soundtrack, leading to one of the most enjoyable performances of the year so far. Thank you all for reading, and I will see you for the next post.
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