Twisters Reviews Say the Tornado-Chasing Sequel Is "As Good as a Summer Movie Gets"

Here's what critics are saying about Twisters, starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell.

By Cameron Bonomolo

Twisters will blow thrill-seeking moviegoers away, according to the mostly positive early reviews from critics. It's been 28 years since the Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt-starring Twister in 1996, so now director Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) is taking stars Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick) and Daisy Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) for a spin in the tornado-wrangling legacy sequel hitting theaters July 19th. So far, Twisters sits at 76% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Continuing the year's trend of long-awaited franchise revivals — everything from Kung Fu Panda 4 and Inside Out 2 to Bad Boys: Ride or Die and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F — the decades-later Twister sequel is "just about as good as a summer movie gets," wrote EW's Jordan Hoffman, who called it "hot, dumb, and fun, like a great summer movie should be."

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney similarly hailed the force-of-nature action, writing that Twisters "more or less meets the requirements as a summer blockbuster" as it unleashes "lots of fierce weather" with a central love triangle and albeit "entirely predictable" character dynamics that "soften the drama." See excerpts from more Twisters reviews below.

TheWrap: "For a sequel to a nearly 30-year-old movie, Twisters miraculously stands out against the modern blockbuster landscape. Just like Twister did back in 1996. It's the rare legacy sequel done right."

Deadline: "It's hard to imagine who Twisters is actually for. The dialogue is creaky, whenever it's not Satnav-speak ("There's a right turn coming up!"), and the bad behavior of rapidly spinning air isn't really something to invest in. Which, as the end credits roll, might explain why there was a 28-year gap between this one and the last one…"

Variety: "Twister, in its time, was bedazzling because we had never seen anything like it on the big screen before. Staring up at the tornadoes in Twisters, I felt like I'd already seen something exactly like them — and that when it comes to footage of actual tornadoes, I'd already seen something more incredible. Twisters, fun as parts of it are, is a movie where reality ultimately takes a lot of the wind out of its gales."

Digital Spy: "Whether or not it lives up to it might depend on your personal connection to – and nostalgia for – the original movie. But Twisters still delivers where it counts with thrilling huge-scale set pieces which are very wet and very windy."

Total Film: "Thankfully Twisters was worth the wait, its swirl of large-scale spectacle, likeable characters, and heartfelt sentiment excusing a plot that's really just a washing line on which to peg set-pieces… if such a metaphor is wise, given that an EF5 tornado would likely take the line, your clothes, the shed, the whole back garden, and your house too." 

IndieWire: "Much like its predecessor, this rousing and surprisingly romantic gust of multiplex fun spins a strange combination of genres into a conventionally satisfying ride."

In Twisters, Edgar-Jones plays Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City. She is lured back to the open plains by her friend, Javi (Anthony Ramos, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system. There, she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (Powell), the charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his raucous crew — the more dangerous the better.

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As storm season intensifies, terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed — and Kate, Tyler and their competing teams find themselves squarely in the paths of multiple storm systems converging over central Oklahoma in the fight of their lives. Joining Edgar-Jones, Powell, and Ramos are Brandon Perea (Nope), Sasha Lane (American Honey), Daryl McCormack (Peaky Blinders), Kiernan Shipka (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina), Nik Dodani (Atypical) and Golden Globe winner Maura Tierney (Beautiful Boy).

Twisters touches down in theaters on July 19th.

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