With the 2025 tornado season in the United States off to a busy start, the 2024 movie “Twisters,” directed by Lee Isaac Chung, comes up at a timely moment, delivering immersive scenes that reflect the thrills and dangers of tornado chasing while showing humanity’s complex relationships with tornados.
While “Twisters” delivers edge-of-your-seat action through many seat-gripping scenes, the overall plot suffers from a relatively bland narrative, shallow character development and underwhelming plot twists.
The film follows Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a former tornado chaser with an instinct for determining how tornadoes will evolve. She left the field after a traumatic encounter with a deadly tornado. Years later, as a new tornado season looms, she’s drawn back into the field by her former tornado chasing partner Javi (Anthony Ramos) after he persuades her to come track tornadoes for him to help a developing project.
After arriving in Oklahoma — one of the states located in real life Tornado Alley — Kate discovers a crowd of storm chasers who take on many different forms. Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) and his crew are the most notable, known for chasing tornadoes for the thrill and live-streaming their adventures on YouTube. As she continues to discover what the present-day tornado chasing field has become, she will also uncover the real ambitions and true motives of the people around her.
While the plot lays out the basic framework of Kate’s return, what truly stands out in “Twisters” is how the movie makes you feel. The tornado and weather scenes in “Twisters” are undeniably gripping with their sound effects and visual design, piecing together a thrilling and captivating atmosphere. However, the characters often feel bland with stereotypical personalities, and scenes without interaction among the characters feel hampered due to the shallow personalities that they hold. The plot, once established, moves quickly, filled with thrills and action, but is predictable. The few plot twists fall short on bringing uniqueness to the plot, often leading to short-lived and abandoned side storylines.
“Twisters” does not on any account disappoint in the category of action and thriller, yet it falls short on delivering a compelling storyline with characters who have personalities beyond the action of the main plot. “Twisters” is a solid choice for fans of disaster films and seat-gripping visuals. However, those seeking a deeper plot and more complex storyline may find it bland. As tornado season continues to ramp up in real life, the film offers thrills but not much plot to reflect on.
