Twisters

I love disaster movies and Twister (1996) is one of my all-time favourites. It embodies the 90s, and although cheesy, it's a total comfort movie.

I was really excited for Twisters and the trailers looked like it would live up to the hype. Seeing this tonight I couldn't help but compare the two movies and feel disappointed. Twisters isn't bad, it's just bland.

Jan De Bont had a captivating style of directing with big aerial shots and practical action scenes that worked with the relatively new CGI back in '96. The cast was also stellar (especially Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cary Elwes etc). Twisters at times feels like a caricature of the previous film's characters but uninteresting and not particularly likeable. Daisy Edgar-Jones does a great job and there's decent chemistry between her and Glen Powell (albeit not to the same extent of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt).

Mark Mancina's score was one of the best action scores of the 90s and I was really looking forward to at least a reference, but unfortunately we only get a generic score from Benjamin Wallfisch. I do rate the solid country soundtrack though.

What are the good things about Twisters? The set pieces are on point - especially the rodeo and finale in the town. The effects are amazing and there's a couple moments of spectacle. I think if you haven't seen (or aren't a huge fan) of the original, you'll probably appreciate this one a lot more.