(CNN) — Landing somewhere between sequel and reboot, “Twisters” introduces new characters and an extra letter to the 1996 disaster movie but not much else, leaving its stars stranded in a vehicle with roughly the weight of a stiff breeze. Impressive visual effects only go so far, though they at least provide a necessary distraction to the heightened awareness of climate change baked into the premise .
After “Anyone But You” and “Hit Man,” Glen Powell serves as the biggest marketing come-on beyond the chance to see wanton destruction, but despite opportunities to flash that million-dollar smile, it’s not really his movie. The core story, rather, belongs to Daisy Edgar-Jones ( “Where the Crawdads Sing” ), playing the brilliant scientist lured back into the storm-chasing game after a tragic setback.
Edgar-Jones’ Kate Carter has taken refuge in New York after pursuing potentially groundbreaking research for the Tornado Tamer Project, an attempt to do the original movie’s premise one better by actually employing state-of-the-art technology to reduce massive tornadoes.
Those perilous efforts have lain dormant, however, when she’s approached by former colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos), who has found well-heeled sponsorship for his own storm-measuring device, flanked by an associate (“Superman”-to-be David Corenswet ) who gives off a decided “Don’t trust that dude” vibe.
Back in the field, Kate encounters Tyler Owens (Powell), a rambunctious tornado “wrangler” who cashes in chasing storms and posting the content he films to his popular YouTube channel. Yet while there’s tension between her altruistic focus on science and his commodification of disasters, underscored by the neophytes with whom they cross paths, in this kind of movie handsome clouds tend to have silver linings.
After earning well-deserved praise for the character-driven independent film “Minari,” director Lee Isaac Chung tackles this major-studio assignment without bringing anything particularly distinctive to it, relying a little too much on how good his leads look wet and sweaty. That extends to the posse of supporting players in Kate/Javi and Tyler’s respective camps, which try to match the zany daredevil antics associated with the earlier film but generally fall short.
Indeed, the notably clever moments prove few and far between, from a reference to “The Wizard of Oz” to a sequence involving a movie theater, which a cynic might see as a metaphor for the stormy state of the industry.
As noted, the most salient wrinkle isn’t particularly helpful in viewing the movie as light escapism – namely, illustrating the devastating impact of tornadoes on communities, and an increase in extreme weather that has become more alarming and dire as filtered through our news-saturated culture. (“Twister,” it’s worth noting, premiered the same year that Fox News and MSNBC signed on.)
Frankly, this “Twister” revisitation might have been better served by following the old title with an exclamation point instead of an “S.” Either way, the assignment of replicating the first movie’s appeal would have presented a challenge, but “Twisters” makes that task harder due to headwinds entirely of its own making.
“Twisters” premieres July 19 in US theaters. It’s rated PG-13.
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