Sequels that nobody asked for have no business being good. And yet, Twisters had the audacity to do just that – this is a shockingly good movie.

Today’s unnecessary nostalgia–based films don’t generally get good writing or excellent performances, but this one absolutely did – and it uses that nostalgia to set up expectations and then cleverly subvert them.

The TL;DR of this review is: I really enjoyed this film, and in a few important ways, I actually feel this sequel surpasses the original.  While we usually try to keep our reviews mostly spoiler-free, I struggled to explain why I liked this movie without drawing parallels to the original, and the discussion of the structure of the film does inherently involve what may be considered spoilers – so I added a note before any section that might ruin a surprise below.

Parallels to the Original

I recommend watching the first movie before buying a ticket for Twisters – there are some interesting parallels and differences you might enjoy catching onto. Both films feature two crews of storm chases, but their positions are seemingly reversed – in the original, our protagonists are the lesser equipped of the two crews, while the baddies are presented as bougie scientists with fancy equipment and wealthy corporate backers. In this film, they turn that on its head with our protagonists seemingly on the corporate side, constantly having to work against the DIY YouTuber storm chasers who continuously get in their way.

Minor spoilers here: The pacing follows the original almost exactly, too – both films open with our leads experiencing a personal tornado-based catastrophe before jumping to the future as they’ve moved on with their lives away from storm chasing, only to be brought back (“I’m not back!” – the separate protagonists of both films). Both films include a moment of peace at the end of the second act interrupted by a surprise! twister causing our leads to have to think fast to get innocent bystanders to safety, before they both end end with our heroes’ scientific innovation saving the day, actual-science-be-damned.

Pointing out these similarities is not a complaint, however – I enjoyed how the filmmakers created a plot arc so similar in pace and feeling, while having a completely different emotional arc. I also think they were intentional in using similar pacing to throw us off the scent when it comes to a certain key character; more on that in a moment.

Performances and Emotional Arcs

Performances are excellent, especially Glenn Powell as Tyler Owens (his distractingly tiny, tiny mouth aside), and Daisy Edward Jones as Kate.

Major spoilers here! I think the filmmakers and performers did an excellent job of taking that aforementioned nostalgia and using it against our expectations – they were very intentional in setting us up to see Powell’s Owens as a parallel to the original film’s villain, Jonas Miller (portrayed by Cary Elwes), that it comes as a pleasant surprise when his character gradually becomes an ally of Kate.

Another element that I enjoyed was that while the film played with the chemistry between Tyler and Kate, it stops short of having them explicitly end up together (we don’t even see them kiss at any point!). It’s clear that the romance wasn’t the point, but rather the way that Tyler helps Kate work through her guilt and wrap up her own emotional arc. I love this – there’s more ways to tell an emotional story than just romance, and I am all about seeing more platonic male/female friendships in the movies, please.

VFX and Music

The VFX were very well done – although, having watched the original during the series of storms in Grand Rapids this past spring, I will say that the special effects in that movie also hold up pretty well. One difference, though, is that the original movie made a lot more spectacle of the storms and visuals. The filmmakers for this one know that we are all used to these sorts of VFX shots now, and the CGI does not often take up as much real estate – I think this shift in focus really helps make this a character- and story-driven movie than the original.

One minor disappointment for me was the absence of any of the musical themes and leitmotifs from the original film, which I thought were iconic – this is a minor complaint, though, and I would venture to guess most people would not notice or care.

Twister Takeaways

My expectations were low, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. I know we are all a little burned out from nostalgia overload, but this movie builds expectations out of that nostalgia that mirrors the original in pacing and feeling while delivering a fresh emotional journey.

By focusing on character development and avoiding cliched romance tropes, Twisters stands out as a sequel that not only honors its predecessor but also carves out its own unique space.