OPINION: Twist and shout

Despite my previous rhetoric to the contrary, the summer blockbuster box office can be a time of joy. I adore when the massive budgets of the number ones are able to produce something truly worth the effort. But, I lament when overproduced sludge too focused on familiar iconography infect screens.

The first year I started regularly going to the movies was one of the worst summers, 2019. It started great, with franchise standouts “Avengers: Endgame” and “John Wick,” but as the summer limped on, with Disney’s live-action “Aladdin” and “The Lion King,” one of Fox’s X-Men final whimpers with “Dark Phoenix,” a poorly-designed reboot in “Men in Black: International” and countless spin-offs and sequels with “Godzilla,” “Fast & Furious,” “Angry Birds” and “Spider-Man,” it’s hard to stay optimistic.

This was the same summer that would also produce great original mainstream movies like “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Crawl” and “Rocketman.” Every summer has high and lows, but sorting through the stream can be exhausting.

As I sat down for “Twisters” last week, I was surprised at first by the amount of people in the theater with me. The previous week with “Longlegs” was the first time this year I had the seats on both sides of me filled, but “Twisters” was the first time the entire theater was filled. The original “Twister” is an American Midwest staple, but the turnout for a sequel-reboot almost three decades later was enlightening.

Even more bewildering was my brain throughout the movie, as my initial layer of franchise-burdened cynicism melted away to the excitement I was witnessing on screen, which holds wonderful attention to its characters while providing spectacular visual spectacle.

“Twister” had relatively primitive visual effects (a floating cow slowly gliding across the screen comes to mind), but made up for it with a level of camp stemming from leads Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt’s charismatic performances.

The main draw of the movie comes from being immediately placed into this setting of wacky characters who dance on the line of safety and insanity, and watching a couple rediscover their love for their work and each other. The original movie starts ridiculous, but as the storms grow bigger and the high of storm-chasing crashes into a brutal reality of their destructive power, it sinks the hook until a stunning finish.

“Twisters,” with all of its budget and modern sensibility, can’t really live up to the same tone that “Twister” had created decades ago, but makes up for it with a more considered story. The prologue setting up the lead Kate Carter, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones, is fantastic, focusing on the horror of these storms. It flips the tone immediately to enunciate feelings of anxiety and grief.

What follows is a rebuilding of a character who is broken from what transpired before. She finds herself back in Oklahoma’s tornado alley, facing off against a rival tornado-chasing group headed by Tyler Owens, played by Glen Powell, who seems more concerned with viral fame from YouTube livestreams.

Twists follow, both between characters and in the sky above them. The budget finds its home in breathtaking visual effects, with tornadoes that whip debris quickly and sharply, contrasting from cows of decades past. There’s deeper attention to destructive power in these tornadoes, as characters are seen being whisked away by the winds.

It’s exciting, something only possible with a big budget studio backing it all. What’s more exciting is the story in the center, which is equally compelling. Carter’s journey and how it intertwines with Owens is inspired. Owens’ words about chasing fears, “you don’t face them, you ride them,” is at first goofy, but as the movie roars into its final setpiece, they’ve mutated into a meaningful and profound glory.

Conquering nature is a flawed, if noble idea. “Twister” had a focus on simply trying to understand nature which would extend to helping local people and prevent disaster. “Twisters” follows the same idea to a larger, albeit more unrealistic, concept of preventing tornadoes, which doesn’t seem based on real scientific ideas. It’s easier to just ignore the babble and focus on the characters.

The movie does follow, unfortunately, in the vein of other sequel-reboots that have plagued the ‘10s in a search for box office nostalgia. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Jurassic World” have similar DNA in following the original property with the same beats, and at points, “Twisters” unfortunately doesn’t feel different. Even during the spectacular finale, witnessing a vehicle charge into a tornado is just an echo of what came before.

However, despite unrealistic and overly familiar moments, “Twisters” remains grounded and focused on character dynamics. There’s joy, thrills and above all love for those most affected by tornadoes. It’s refreshingly modern, connecting past and present and forming a well-cooked storm of its own.