Twisters (Christian Movie Review)
With charismatic leads, immersive disaster spectacle, and enough engaging human drama to ground the narrative, Twisters is an entertaining summer blockbuster.
About the Film
June and July typically mark the end of peak tornado season in America, but in Hollywood, it’s just getting started. Twisters blows into theaters 28 years after the hit film Twister (1996). The movie is a reimagining or reboot rather then a direct sequel, with no narrative continuation beyond a shared template of tornados and storm chasing. All these years later, there remains something quintessentially “Hollywood” about disaster flicks, where heroic human struggles unfold against the backdrop of mass visual spectacle. The genre’s popularity has waned in recent years, but Twisters may change the winds on that trend. With charismatic leads, immersive disaster spectacle, and enough engaging human drama to ground the narrative, Twisters is an entertaining summer blockbuster.
In a recent interview, Director Lee Isaac Chung said, “‘Twisters’ is not just a disaster movie — it’s a monster movie.” Those two genres have always overlapped: both showcasing humanity’s noble struggle for survival against daunting and overpowering forces of nature. Both genres also require two crucial elements to be successful: 1) the “monster/disaster” must be exciting, and 2) the characters need to be sympathetic and easy to root for. Twisters understood the assignment on both fronts.
Let’s start with the spectacle—because let’s be honest, that’s why we all go to see a disaster movie. Speaking as someone who has gone down the YouTube rabbit hole on more than one occasion to binge videos of tornados, there is something undeniably sublime and awe inspiring about them. Twisters is the type of movie made to be experienced through a giant theater screen and sound system, as the camera thrusts audiences right into the middle of the howling forces of nature. Not every tornado encounter is edge-of-your-seat thrilling, but they are consistently exciting, with enough variation to keep things interesting.
The twisters may be the main event, but storms need chasers, and it is the human characters that often make or break a disaster movie. Director Chung is best known for his emotional, character-driven drama Minari (which earned him several Academy Award nominations), making him an unusual choice to helm a big-budget, spectacle-driven blockbuster spectacle. But his more grounded sensibilities are one of the films best assets. While the twisters are rightfully given the spotlight, Chung never loses sight of the essential human component.
It helps that Twisters is also elevated by solid cast, featuring the endearing earnestness of Daisy Edgar-Jones and the irresistible charisma of Glen Powell. Jones is given most of the heavy lifting for the emotional story beats, leaving Powell to provide levity and fun to the story that could otherwise have veered into being overly serious. The supporting cast is good as well, if a bit underused, with no characters feeling like mere tornado-fodder.
There are moments where the film’s commitment to the more serious drama pumps the breaks—at least a little bit—on the summer blockbuster fun. Twisters repeatedly reminds audiences about the somber consequences and devastation from the natural disasters. That’s obviously not a bad thing, and it effectively instills a sense of stakes to the action, but it can sometimes be a buzzkill. Audiences might feel like they are being whirled around in a twister themselves, as one moment Glen Powell is hooting and hollering while blaring country music from his jeep and driving recklessly into a tornado to shoot off some fireworks, and then next moment audiences are confronted with scenes of mass death and devastation. Even so, Twisters manages to entertain audiences without cheapening the reality of true natural disasters or the value of life.
Overall, Twisters is a disaster movie done right, balancing meaningful drama with exciting spectacle. It’s the kind of movie that demands to be seen on a big screen. It’s a film skillfully crafted to entertain, but on a deeper level, it’s a timely reminder that no matter how technologically advanced humans have become, we are fearfully small and powerless against the might and glory of God’s sublime creation.
For Consideration
Language: There are 10-15 profanities (“s—”, “a—”, “d—”, “h—”), as well as several uses of “God” and “Lord.” A character tells another character to, “blow me.”
Violence: There is plenty of devastation and death, but it is never depicted graphically on screen. Characters are pulled into the air by the tornado or hit with flying debris, presumably killed, but their bodies are not shown.
Sexuality: None.
Engage The Film
God’s Sublime Creation
Prior to the film’s release, director Chung stated that he intentionally avoided using the words “climate change” since he didn’t want the film to be “preachy” in a way that distracted from its primary goal of entertainment. Viewers can likely still read between the lines to discern that subtext, but for the most part, the film instead explores other interesting themes.
One value of disaster films is that they showcase the overwhelming power of nature without the real-world consequences. Director Chung comes from religious background, and described his earlier film Minari as “wrestling with God.” Religion plays a less obvious role in Twisters, but echoes of that theme can be found. In an early scene, Tyler (Glen Powell) explains that part of the wonder of tornados is the fact that that we still don’t understand about them, remarking that they are, “Part science. Part religion.”
That idea is build upon further during the climax, which takes place in retro movie theater that is playing Frankenstein (1931). The back wall and movie screen are violently torn away, providing a frame for the characters to watch the approaching tornado. The transition suggests a link between Frankenstein and the tornado.
One interpretation may be the unmentioned climate change message, and the idea that our technological advancement has created a deadly monster (ie. increased tornado activity). But other meanings can also be inferred. A central theme of Mary Shelley’s science fiction story is about human ego that overreaches and attempts to harness and control what only God has power over. From that perspective, then scene is a reminder that for all the scientific jargon that gets spouted throughout the films, the swirling tornados remain an act of God, and we would all do well to remain humble and filled with reverence at His power and glorious creation.
