THE REEL DEAL 📽️💰 MOVIE REVIEWS

Movie watched in theaters on Tues. August 6, 2024
Ross' Rating: 🍿 🍿 🍿 🌽 🌽
Josh's Rating: 🍿🍿🌽🌽🌽

Ross' Reel Deal:

The First Pop

Twisters, the 2024 summer blockbuster, is a standalone sequel to the 1996 classic, “Twister”. It follows Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a meteorologist, that joins a team of storm chasers in Oklahoma to deploy innovative technologies for an advanced tornado warning system.

What was Poppin’

Much like the original, the remake is action packed and exhilarating. The visual effects and stunts successfully portray developing storms, tornadoes, and the ensuing destruction. The depiction of what it’s like to be a storm chaser is well done. The movie pays homage to the original with several callbacks while also creating its own story.

What wasn’t Poppin’

The characters and some storylines were somewhat underdeveloped. The movie relied on several tropes that were predictable. The storm chasers place themselves in unreasonably dangerous circumstances that does not seem realistic, like driving into a tornado.

The Last Pop

Overall, this is a must watch movie for weather enthusiasts. It’s a great action movie that has just enough twists (pun intended) to keep it interesting.

Official Pop Score

🍿 🍿 🍿 🌽 🌽 3 out of 5 pops!

Josh's Reel Deal:

The First Pop

Twisters" is a 2024 summer blockbuster directed by Lee Isaac Chung and staring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell. The marketing for this film painted it as a project aiming to reboot a classic thriller for modern audiences, while paying tribute to the original source material. A movie with the heart of a 90s disaster film - a genre the original "Twister" helped bolster while ushering in a new age of computer generated visual effects.

I Wanted It to Be A-Maize-Ing

"We're even shooting on 35mm film like the good old days!" the creators exclaimed! Unfortunately, all the hype was just hot air. The film is a monotonous trek through a plot flatter than an Oklahoma landscape. A classic blockbuster is supposed to thrill audiences with twists and turns - but we don't get any save for twists meteorological, and turns vehicular.

Just Too Corny

The director seems confused as to what the tone of the movie should be. Is it first and foremost a tribute to the original? If so, it does not succeed on that front, as it contains very little of the spunk and edge-of-your-seat-fun of the original. Any attempts at such storytelling feel like cheap overlays on top the original "Twister." And while it is shot on 35mm film, the cinematography and stylistic choices felt too polished to ever be a callback to the original. Is it a love story? Apparently we are lead to believe so - but we are only lead on. Heck, feel free to call me "so 1996", but could we at least have the love interests kiss at the end? I paid for my ticket and sat through two hours of sexual tension and I don't even get a smooch. Instead at the end I was left with the impression that our "in-love" leads will probably date for a few months until one of them swipes left. A love story for modern audiences indeed. Is it a visual effects showcase? Well, much like the original, the VFX in this film are indeed a sight to behold. While the action on the screen is often unrealistic, the sound and visuals successfully convey a sense of immensity when our leads confront the tornados head on. While the movie tried to be so much more, it is at least a spectacle or sorts on the big screen. But this is a movie I would never have on rotation.

🍿🍿🌽🌽🌽 2 out of 5 pops!