It’s a testament to the original ‘Twister’ movie from 1996 that its conceit of a romance among the rugged world of storm chasing could be simultaneously remade and updated almost 30 years later as a big screen thrill ride in “Twisters.” The new film starring rising actors Daisy Edgar-Jones (‘Normal People’) and Glen Powell (‘Top Gun: Maverick) isn’t trying to be anything more than that, with a healthy dose of respect for the awesome power of Mother Nature. Like the aforementioned ‘Top Gun’, ‘Twisters’ might just prove to tug at similar wide appeal strings and bring moviegoers back to the biggest screens for another rollicking experience.

A sequel only in name, setting, and tone, the movie similarly opens on a traumatic encounter with an enormous tornado. This time however for our heroine, Kate (Jones), it’s not a moment that drives her future fascination with cyclones, rather it’s one that deters her preternatural ability to predict their formation and behavior out in the wild. This initial sequence is a powerful one, staged dramatically by director Lee Isaac Chung (mostly known for ‘Minari’, but who’s no stranger to action having helmed an episode of ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian’). He manages to quickly establish characters for whom the audience can immediately care for and he places the audience right in the mix of a realistically rendered engine of devastation.

From here, the film effectively executes some time-honored tropes as Jones’ Kate gets reluctantly pulled back into action. It’s here, back on her home turf in Oklahoma aiding her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) with his cadre of well-funded meteorologist bros (future Superman David Corenswet among them, not acting very heroically hahaha), that she meets the inimitable Tyler (Powell) and HIS motley crew of YouTube chasers. This group more resembles Hunt’s ragged band in the original, but their motivation to broadcast their crazy footage on the internet, using drones and Go Pros all over Tyler’s beast of a truck, coupled with the advanced tech of Javi’s team, are what propel this into current times (although the antiquated flying probes of Dorothy do make an appearance!). The narrative may be predictable and the characters aren’t breaking any new ground, but fueled by the energy of the charismatic young stars (especially Powell on some roll right now) and state of the art special visual and audible effects, ‘Twisters’ is a fun amusement park ride for the summer without the bloat . . .

Directed By: Lee Isaac Chung

Written By: Mark L. Smith & Joseph Kosinski (story by)

Running Time: 122 min.

Rated: PG-13

* * * (out of 4 stars) -OR- B