Loosely set in the same universe as the cult classic 90s film, this belated sequel sees a new generation of storm chasers flung recklessly into the path of nature’s fury as they seek to unlock the destructive mysteries of tornedoes for professional and personal reasons.

The Good

For fans of the original film this sequel serves as both a timely reminder and earnest homage to a fondly remembered cult cinematic favourite. While only loosely tied to the original film this return to the ill-advised thrills of storm chasing seeks to recapture the spirit of one of the most memorable blockbuster films of its era. To that extent it adopts a very similar approach to Jurassic World, with both that film and now Twisters effectively serving as a soft reboot/remake of the original, borrowing the concept and world setting whilst introducing an entirely new generation of characters.

One advantage of this is that Twisters can easily be viewed as a standalone film without any need to be familiar already with the 90s original. At the same time returning fans will find just enough obvious references to the first film to recognise the world and feel that the new filmmakers have sufficiently preserved the core components of the newly formed franchise.

While the original film was marketed on the grounds of its awe inspiring effects, bringing the unique terror of tornedoes to life it was in fact largely held together by the compelling human appeal of stars Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton. While it’s obviously impossible to fully replicate those brilliant star turns, the new film at least does well in adding Glen Powell as a likably rugged leading man.

The Bad

While the original Twister was a memorably ground-breaking accomplishment in cutting edge special effects that fused practical tricks with the exciting new frontier of CGI wizardry, sadly this sequel simply can’t replicate that impact. After decades of advances in visual effects audiences are quite simply immune to any sense of shock and awe in the face of any well animated cinematic mayhem.

Robbed of the ability to show audiences anything truly new or more convincingly ‘real’, this new film sadly has its obviously strained plot points and weaker acting moments far more cruelly exposed. Sadly this also worsens the already nagging doubt that this much belated and some would argue redundant sequel is purely a predictable repetition of the original.

Twisters biggest problem is that it’s even more awkwardly noticeable in a second film just how hard the film has to work to come up with plausible excuses to repeatedly put its heroes in the destructive path of a conveniently frequent series of exponentially big ‘killer storms’.

In a modern world full of drones and genuine cutting edge fully automated technology it’s tricky to avoid wondering why anyone really needs to be careening around in trucks a few feet from the edge of apocalyptic size Tornedos. Likewise even when the intrepid storm hunters do take a sensible break from actively driving into danger, it’s a little awkwardly convenient that more monstrous storms seem equally determined to simply come and find them instead.

While the original film mostly managed to hide these obvious flaws in logic and common sense beneath jaw dropping effects and a surprisingly compelling human story, sadly those elements fall far more flat in this sequel, leaving audiences a little too much time to notice how unrealistic or unnecessary the whole spectacular spectacle really is.

The original film had such a satisfying and seemingly conclusive narrative that it’s easy to expect audiences to find themselves quick to question the need to essentially repeat the entire premise purely for some slightly better data sets.

The Ugly Truth

Twisters conspicuously retraces all the steps of the original film but sadly with much diminished returns. It can’t recreate the shock and awe of the once ground-breaking special effects for an audience now fully desensitised to CGI destruction. Likewise a mostly bland cast can’t match the memorable chemistry of the 90’s film. Shoehorning in heavy handed messages about corporate greed and watering down the romantic subplot this time aren’t improvements either.

Ultimately Twisters perhaps works best for newcomers who won’t realise how heavily plagiarized the sequel feels or for devoted fans of the original who will simply accept this as long overdue celebration of the original.