Glen Powell prepares a fun and hot show for the summer

No one really knows what causes tornadoes, or at least that’s what I was told in the splendid and entertaining sequel to Legacy. Tornadoes. By Glen Powell Self-proclaimed “tornado wrangler” Tyler Owens, as he gazes in awe at the gathering storm, explains to his accompanying British journalist (Harry Hadden-Paton) and his band of illegal YouTubers that mastering the science of humidity and wind shear only gets you so far, and after that it’s a leap of faith. The same could be said of the making of a Hollywood blockbuster. A producer puts all the elements in place—the director, the script, the actors, the marketing—and then it either takes off or fails. Box office results remain to be seen, but as a movie, I’m happy to say that Tornadoes It’s one of the best summer movies out there.

Written by Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The boys on the boat) from a “story by” Joseph Kosinski (The legacy of Tron, Top Gun: Maverick) and directed by Lee Isaac Chung (we’ll talk more about this in a moment), Tornadoes Of course, it’s based on the intellectual property of the 1996 storm-chasing action-adventure film. TwisterIt’s not really a sequel; it’s not really a remake; it’s just The next generationEither way, one can’t help but imagine the legendary tale of James Cameron throwing his Alien sequel to restless producers writing the word ALIENS on a piece of paper, then, with an added stroke, changing it to ALIEN$.

In fact, this new film is aware of its own silliness, with several references to The Wizard of Oz and multiple reminders about “a once-in-a-generation tornado outbreak!” from the TV weathermen. There are one-liners that could have appeared in the trailer, such as a frantic character yelling “This theater wasn’t built to withstand what’s coming!” while in the theater and a girl cheekily saying “This ain’t my first rodeo” while at a rodeo, and in both cases, the lines make absolute sense for the story. Tornadoes revels in a “let’s not take this too seriously” atmosphere, though of course there are real stakes, with trucks crashing into buildings and people occasionally getting grabbed by the Hand of God and thrown to a terrifying death.

The film begins during one such cyclonic attack. A group of students chase a tornado to conduct an experiment that, if the data confirms their theories, could become a tool that could reduce dangerous weather in the future. They are led by Kate (Daisy Edgar Jones), which is basically Matrix’Kate is the “one” when it comes to weather. But there’s a miscalculation and… whoooooooooooooooo! There go most of Kate’s classmates, sucked up and spit out into the next county. Five years later, Kate is working for a weather-tracking agency in New York City, a place full of dangers, but compared to Oklahoma, very few tornadoes.

The only survivor of his university experiment, Javi (Antonio Ramos), twists his arm to get him back into the field when he explains that he has created some new trinkets that, if triangulated correctly around a tornado, could radically alter the science of storms and life jacketKate says no, no, no, until she clearly says yes, and the action moves back to the heart of the country.

In the years since he disappeared, however, storm-chasing tourism has increased, with busloads of thrill-seekers flocking to Oklahoma to witness the killer weather for themselves. The aforementioned Tyler Owens and his band of screaming, shouting maniacs cheer them on, blasting “Phantom Riders in the Sky“while they live stream their antics, setting off fireworks and acting like idiots, even though elegant Assholes. Javi and his serious scientists speak in hushed tones, and that includes Javi’s business partner, Scott, played by David Corenswetfunny as a muscle puppet, so it doesn’t offer much to advance its Next turn as Superman.

But there is a twist, of course, in Tornadoes(This isn’t much of a spoiler; it’s pretty obvious from the first few images.) Javi’s group may not be as altruistic as they first appear, and, conversely, camera-ready Tyler may not be full of hot air either. This becomes apparent after a few tornado-themed adventures, including one set during an old-fashioned, flag-waving rodeo.

Tornadoes It is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, whose most recent film is a character-driven minor masterpiece. Minariabout a multigenerational group of South Korean immigrants in the American Midwest. There’s nothing in that film, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and won Yoon Yuh Jung an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, suggesting that Chung was going to focus on action-adventure films with special effects. (She did, however, direct an episode of the third season of The Mandalorian.) But sometimes talent is talent, regardless of gender. Although ‘Tornadoes’ script It’s silly, the characterization is played straight. The Kate-Tyler-Javi relationship triangle really works, and that’s entirely down to the performances. In worse hands, this whole thing could have fallen apart.

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Chung also has a clear affection for the Midwest. Kate, vibrating with the elements on a strange molecular level, communicates with the swaying wheat and bulbous clouds, and we witness it, but we don’t visualize it in an overly striking way. Chung could easily have opted for glimpses inside Kate’s mind, as when Christopher Nolan The film shows the electrons sparking in J. Robert Oppenheimer’s head, but he wisely backs off. The film is absurd enough on its own, and the scenery does the work for it. Even more so during Kate and Tyler’s first date at the rodeo, a corrective measure to show “the best” of the area after seeing the devastation caused by the ever-present storms.

If I have any complaints about Tornadoes (besides the general level of “just go with the flow” ridiculousness throughout the entire film), is that the many terrific supporting cast don’t get much time to shine. Tyler’s ensemble includes Sasha Lane (Loki, American honey), Katy O’Brian (The Mandalorian, Love lies bleeding), Brandon Perea (No), and others, and I assume some group scenes were cut. Only Tunde Adebimpe’s character as the gang’s obsessive “weather bug” (an actual term according to a friend of mine who studied meteorology at university) makes a real impression, especially in a scene during a pattern change where ought be terrified for his life, but instead lights up and exclaims, “I know what this is called!!” (He is witnessing the Fujiwara effectif you’re curious.)

That’s a grace note often missing from summer blockbusters, but thankfully found everywhere. TornadoesThere are a lot of techno-features that you have to accept without a second thought, but Jones and Powell do more than sell them; they make them convincing. By the end of the movie, you really believe that, yes, these two could lead science into a future where tornadoes can be killed (did I mention this is nonsense? It is nonsense!) and that storming into a city about to be leveled by a storm to help is the smart thing to do, even if all our heroes do is yell “everyone, get in!”

But to get in you have to go to a theater where it is shown… Tornadoes this summer. Grade A-

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