Last Saturday, I saw the action thriller Twister with a friend and her family. The movie was a remake of the original 1996 Twister film. It features Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kate Carter, a traumatized tornado specialist. Glenn Powell starred as Tyler Owens, a man whose interest in “Taming Tornadoes” can be found on his YouTube channel. Anthony Ramos starred as Javi, one of Kate’s former tornado friends. Javi hires Kate to help him and his group combat tornadoes that are plaguing Oklahoma.

Disclaimer…If you do not want to know what happened in the movie, you might not want to read any further.

The movie starts with Kate and her three friends planning to tame a tornado. As a science project for their college class, they are attempting to experiment with a substance that will hopefully disrupt the flow of the tornado. Kate and her friends get close enough to the tornado to release the substance while Javi, located far from the tornado, used specialized sensors to record the effect of the substance. The tornado turns out to be an EF5 tornado and forces Kate and her friends to take cover under a bridge. All three of her friends die trying to get to the bridge while Kate is wounded in her right thigh.

Five years later, Javi comes to visit Kate in New York. He tells her that he has a way of predicting the possibility of a tornado and that he needs her help. Kate declines but Javi insists that this project could save lives; Kate still refuses to join. Later, Kate has a dream that her boyfriend is killed by an EF5 tornado and it motivates her to travel back to Oklahoma. Once there, Kate is impressed by the equipment Javi has and questions who is sponsoring it. Javi replies that home owners are paying his team to track tornadoes to reduce the devastation to their property. YouTube sensation Tyler Owens arrives and is greeted by his fan base. Javi proceeds to tell Kate that Tyler and his crew tame tornadoes for a living. Kate realizes a tornado is about to form. When pressed as to where it is going to form, Kate lies to Tyler so he does not interfere with their work. Kate tells the team to load up for the incoming tornado in hopes to record and track it. Tyler and his gang are able to cutoff Javi and Kate, forcing them all to race to the tornado. Javi’s team has already been able to place two of the three sensors to track tornadoes while Kate is still attempting to put hers in place. Kate gets frightened by the tornado and tells Javi they need to retreat away from the tornadoes. Tyler uses this opportunity to drill his truck into the ground and launch a flair into the air dissolving the tornado.

Later at a hotel, Kate runs into Tyler and his crew. Kate expresses her opposition to Tyler’s reckless ways of taming tornadoes. The next day, two tornadoes form and both Kate’s team and Tyler’s team go after the right one but a split second decision by Kate leads her team to chase the left one. Kate’s team was able to place the tornado sensors but the third one was ripped from the ground. They were able to retain some information about the tornado. While Javi suggests they go retrieve the data, Kate is more concerned about the town the tornado hit.

Kate and Javi are helping the people of the destroyed town when Tyler and his crew arrives. Kate believes Tyler sees this all as a game when she sees him handing out t-shirts. Tyler proceeds to tell Kate the home owners are not using the data to predict where the next tornado might hit. Kate becomes suspicious and she decides to look up the home owners’ website. Tyler arrives with some food for Kate which she takes and shuts the door on him. Feeling guilty Kate, opens the door and Tyler invites her to a rodeo where he tells her that he was once a bull rider.  He also tells her he started chasing tornadoes after he saw one when he was nine years old. Suddenly, a tornado forms,  forcing Kate, Tyler, and a mother and daughter to take shelter in a pool, When it is all over, Javi meets Kate and they argue about what they were really using the tornado sensors for.  Javi gets angry by saying that they were his friends too. Upset, Kate takes Javi’s truck and drives it to her house where she meets with her mom and stays the night. The next morning Kate is fiddling with her replica of a tornado when Tyler walks into the barn and is impressed by Kate’s knowledge of tornadoes. Kate’s mom invites Tyler for dinner, where after Tyler proposes that they use Javi’s computer to make Kate’s experiment work.

After meeting, Javi tells Kate he is sorry for using the data to acquire money from the tornado destruction. After Javi drives away, Kate heads over to Tyler’s headquarters to work on her experimental substance. With the substance complete, they venture out towards the newest tornado only to find Javi and his team beat them there. The EF5 tornado has already destroyed a power plant which is creating a vortex of fire within it.  Javi’s truck gets knocked over by the storm but is lifted upright from the winds. Kate and Tyler’s team race to town to shelter everyone from the incoming tornado. While Javi is wanting to help, the land owner tells Javi his responsibility is to collect the data. Back in town, Tyler’s crew is busy relocating civilians into the movie theater. When a water tower collapses and Tyler’s leg gets stuck, Javi arrives and helps get him free. They are able to get into the movie theater only to look outside and see the massive cyclone quickly approaching the town. Kate is able to spot Tyler’s truck.  She runs towards it and drives towards the tornado hoping the substance can dissolve the tornado. The movie theater structure starts to collapse and the screen is ripped apart. Kate releases the substance before she is blown away by the tornado. The substance works in dissolving the tornado and everyone survives unharmed. Kate, bruised and bloody, crawls out of the truck and is helped by Tyler. Javi is thrilled to see her alive. Later, Kate arrives at the airport to say goodbye to Javi and Tyler. Before they are able to leave, their flight is canceled due to another tornado.  Tyler breathes a sigh of relief because he decides his place is next to Kate, ridding towns of tornadoes.

In my opinion, the movie had excellent special effects. While the special effects contributed to the thrill of the movie, I wanted more human interaction with the characters. Do not get my wrong, it’s still a good movie. I just wish the movie was about more than just chasing tornadoes. Overall, I was very pleased with the direction the movie went and would give it an 8/10.