After months of sensational Daisy Edgar-Jones promo shoots, adorable red carpet appearances from Glen Powell’s dog Brisket and sky-high fan anticipation for the return of a classic action blockbuster, Twisters is finally here.
The new film, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, is a sequel to the 1996 disaster movie starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Philip Seymour Hoffman, following a new generation of storm-chasers, with Anthony Ramos, Kiernan Shipka, David Corenswet and more among the supporting vast.
If you’ve been itching to find out whether Twisters will be the thrilling cinematic event of the summer, it looks like it very well might be.
Here’s what the critics have been saying so far…
The Telegraph (5/5)
“The best cinematic experience since Top Gun: Maverick… Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell star in a disaster thriller with one of the most inspired action scenes you’ve seen in years.”
NME (5/5)
“Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell star in perhaps the most entertaining film of the year… Packed with heart, smarts, jaw-dropping effects and an exquisite ensemble cast (shout out to Harry Hadden-Paton’s nerdy British journalist as comic relief), Twisters will have you singing the praises of the multiplex until the cows come home.”
IGN (8/10)
“Twisters has charm for days, even if it doesn’t slow down long enough to let us get to know the characters better. Thankfully, stars Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Anthony Ramos bring plenty of personality to the film through their performances.”
Empire (4/5)
“Simply put, Twisters wears its Big Summer Movie heart on its sleeve. The score is rousing and righteous, the star power at times overwhelming to look at directly… With Edgar-Jones and Powell’s fizzing appeal at its epicentre, Twisters at once feels like a testament to a new generation of stars and a gripping old-school movie event. Feel it. Watch it.”
Entertainment Weekly (A-)
“Twisters is hot, dumb, and fun — like a great summer movie should be… Box office returns remain to be seen, but as a movie, I’m happy to say that Twisters is just about as good as a summer movie gets.”
“This slick, propulsive sequel will blow you away… Daisy Edgar-Jones performs mini miracles in a richly satisfying disaster movie that’s far superior to its 1996 predecessor.”
Indiewire (B+)
“Beautiful people, heart-racing action, genuine pathos, and some tactfully underplayed commentary on the predatory capitalism of climate change for good measure… true to its word, Twisters does what it can to get everyone into the movie theatre, even if there isn’t a ton about it that anyone will hold dear.”
The Guardian (3/5)
“Well, Twisters is a fun film with some big setpiece scenes, and Ramos and Powell make gallant admirers for Kate. I do think though that the movies still haven’t given Edgar-Jones – so excellent in TV’s Normal People – the well-written big-screen role she deserves. Some spectacular stormy weather, though.”
Roger Ebert (3/5)
“Still, this Twisters swirls and churns gleefully, scratching that big-time disaster movie itch with visual panache. It might be a bit “more of the same” compared to de Bont’s superior predecessor, but that sameness still adds up to a scrumptious action feast.”
BBC (3/5)
“This underwhelming aspect of Twisters is most obvious at the end. When the characters survive yet another cyclone, the implication is that they have somehow triumphed over their enemy and that everyone will live happily ever after. Before that, though, the script made it clear that catastrophic whirlwinds are a daily occurrence in Oklahoma, so another one might be along any minute. We’re left with the question of what, exactly, the characters have achieved. How much of a difference has all their driving and shouting actually made?”
Financial Times (3/5)
“Good-looking stars act up a storm in belated sequel…But mixing gleeful thrills with earnest concern for flattened townspeople was always tricky. Now the task is only more complex. The storms are getting worse every year, it is said. Yet for all the Crichton-esque language, the phrase “climate change” never comes up, presumably judged too politically loaded to say out loud. The lesson is clear. Making blockbusters in 2024? A risky science indeed.”
“This sequel to the 1996 disaster blockbuster sees a new group of storm chasers set out to tame a tornado, but the results don’t exactly blow us away.”
“Twisters needs to be either smarter or dumber…there’s no sadder sign of the times than a film whose moment of triumph involves an individual figuring out how to diffuse a single storm — a supposed step toward saving the world — but which refuses to acknowledge the larger issues buffeting its characters like gale-force winds.”
Twisters is out in UK cinemas now.