A decent sequel that doesn't quite live up to the original.

I've always been a fan of disaster movies, and the original Twister is one of my all-time favorites. When I heard they were making a sequel, I was excited but wary. Could Twisters possibly live up to the original? Unsurprisingly, no, but it was still an entertaining and competent thriller with heart.

Though set in the same continuity as the original movie, Twisters stands alone. None of the original characters appear, and there are no specific plot points that tie back to the first film. I find this choice perplexing, because why call it a "sequel" if the films aren't actually connected in any meaningful way? Also, there are enough little easter eggs to make you think there's a connection—like the blink-and-you-miss-it appearance of an original Dorothy canister—that I spent most of the movie feeling like I was missing something. Apart from the marketing, Into the Storm had as much connection to Twister as this one does, and that was disappointing.

The plot is pretty straightforward—similar enough to the original to almost feel like a reboot, yet different enough to be unique. Kate (played by Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a weather scientist who dreams of saving lives by "taming" tornadoes. But when an initial experiment goes spectacularly awry, she retreats behind a desk at the National Weather Service. That is, until old pal Javi (played by Anthony Ramos) convinces her to go back in the field for one week to help create a detailed 3-D model of a tornado. Along the way, they cross paths with Tyler (played by Glen Powell), a storm-chasing social media star.

It's a serviceable story that does a decent job of propping up the real stars of the movie: the tornadoes. Yet all the parallels with the first movie work against it by highlighting its shortcomings. Tyler has a motley crew of colorful characters, but none are half as interesting as Dusty or Rabbit. The film rehashes the conceit of having two teams going after the tornadoes, but in the original there were real stakes. It was a race to see who was going to get the glory by deploying their sensors first, and there was added depth from the rivalry between Bill and Jonas. In Twisters, there's no logical reason for the teams to be in conflict. Tyler's YouTube video isn't in competition with Javi's science project, yet everyone is constantly acting like only one of them can film the tornado at a time.

Edgar-Jones does a fine job as Kate, and her interactions with Tyler are enough to save the movie from mediocrity. Yet even here, the parallels between Jo and Bill from the original are hard to miss, and not nearly as interesting.

In some ways, it feels unfair to judge the movie against its classic predecessor. It's hard to compete with the likes of Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Jan de Bont. But when you choose to make a quasi-sequel instead of trying something original, I feel like critical comparisons are inevitable. Twisters was decent; I just feel like it could have been more.

Ratings

• Princess Power:
• Overall:
• Bechdel Test: Borderline

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