A Twisted Take on Twisters

Twister, oh, does anyone see through you?

You're a twister, oh, an animal

Twister, the unexpected and timely sequel to the 1996 Jan de Bont storm cloud thriller, Twister stormed into theaters earlier this year, delighting fans young and old, who’d been clamoring for this sequel since Twister...Ride it Out closed at Universal Studios Florida.

Twisters is more remake than sequel. The film is structured very similarly to the original. The film opens with a twister traumatizing storm chasers Kate and Javi leading to Kate to take an office job in New York while Javi continues chasing storms. Eventually, Javi needs Kate to chase storms again and they find themselves up against rival chasers led by YouTube star Tyler Owens. There’s no reference that I saw to the original. Kate is not Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton’s kid or Palpatine’s granddaughter or anything.

Chasing ensues.

A tornado destroys a small town. It destroys a rodeo. Kate and Tyler team up and are obviously very attracted to one another. It all leads up to the big showdown between Kate and an F5 twister.

Like the original, Twisters is brisk and fun. Both movies seem ridiculous and dumb but there’s something catchy about both. I found myself kind of enjoying this movie.

The soundtrack is another story. The original soundtrack, a WB vehicle headlined by Van Halen, was a tour de force featuring other 90’s luminaries like Lisa Loeb, Shania Twain, Goo Goo Dolls, and Belly. The new soundtrack is all country all the time and it’s all terrible. It’s mostly background tracks so you can overlook it, but it is a serious downgrade.

Overall, this isn’t a terrible way to waste two hours.

Twister, oh, I shouldn't have trusted in you

Twister, oh, a-na-na-na