Twister was the smash-hit 90s disaster film about tornadoes, co-scripted by Michael Crichton, which sent an innocent cow twirling up into the heavens. Now here’s the jeopardy-multiplying follow-up called Twisters – there are loads of them – although the title might lead some British audiences to assume it’s an affectionate biopic of racehorse trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.
Lee Isaac Chung, known for his autobiographical movie Minari, directs, and Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate, a brilliant and courageous tornado researcher, or maybe tornado whisperer, chasing down the whirlwinds in Oklahoma: a country gal with an instinctive knack of knowing where they’re going to spring up. Kate is haunted by an awful event in her past and knows as much as anyone how tragically destructive tornadoes can be; her mom (Maura Tierney) points out that these days there are more twisters, more disasters, more extreme weather events and you’d think a scientist like Kate would name the obvious culprit. Yet this film seems weirdly coy about saying the words “climate change” out loud.
Kate has a new scientific plan to fire chemical reagents up into the twister to halt its terrifying spiral and thereby save lives and communities; she is helped by project leader Javi (Anthony Ramos) who may have feelings for her. But they are both exasperated by the arrival of a whoopin’, hollerin’ and irresponsible storm-chasin’ good ol’ boy called Tyler, who’s in it for the hedonism and the thrills and drives around getting millions of views for his YouTube channel. Tyler is played by Glen Powell at a level of extra-terrestrial handsomeness which is usually attributable only to AI. Kate and Tyler are naturally annoyed by the each other, but could a tornado of love be starting to stir? Could the livestock be heading skyward?
Certainly, the twister here is an obvious symbol for orgasm; while there’s not a whole lot of explicit romantic activity in this family movie, who needs it when you’re driving around looking for the meteorological G-spot and finally find yourself hunched in the middle of a Biblical supernova, screaming with obviously sexual excitement? The earth really is moving. Well, Twisters is a fun film with some big setpiece scenes, and Ramos and Powell make gallant admirers for Kate. I do think though that the movies still haven’t given Edgar-Jones – so excellent in TV’s Normal People – the well-written big-screen role she deserves. Some spectacular stormy weather, though.