SYNOPSIS: In “Twisters,” a stand-alone sequel to the 1996 disaster film “Twister,” Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kate Cooper, a meteorologist and weather whisperer who retired to the comfort of an office job following a tragic encounter with a tornado in her home state of Oklahoma. Drawn back into the world of storm chasing by the opportunity to test a groundbreaking new tornado tracking system, she returns to the field. “The worse the weather,” says her mother (Maura Tierney), “the happier the girl.” As central Oklahoma is beset by the worst tornado season in years, Kate finds herself torn between an old colleague (Anthony Ramos), a famous social media storm chaser (Glen Powell) and a shady developer (David Born).
CAST: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos, Brandon Perea, Maura Tierney, and Sasha Lane. Directed by Lee Isaac Chung.
REVIEW: The new movie falls somewhere between remake and sequel of the 1996 film, but those expecting a flying cow may be disappointed. The signature image from the original is nowhere to be found, but fans of airborne objects will still find much to enjoy. “Sometimes the old ways are the best ways,” says Tyler (Powell).
Director Lee Isaac Chung captures the adrenaline of storm chasing in frenetic scenes that place the characters in the middle of violent, swirling wind maelstroms. The intensity of those scenes, however, is matched only by the passionate tornado talk. Kate and Tyler enjoy a good weather-related chin wag (although there is no mention of climate change here), but the meteorologicalese tends to slow down the film’s forward momentum.
In other words, when the titular tornados are in motion, the movie is exciting. When they’re being talked about, less so.
The people doing most of the talking, Powell, Edgar-Jones and Ramos, aren’t just props with wind-blown hair. Each are given an obstacle to overcome, whether it is the weight of first impressions, the impact of trauma or the guilt that comes with selling out one’s principles. The character arcs, like Powell’s shift from reckless cowboy to cowboy scientist, a charismatic turn that gives the tornados a run for the movie’s best special effect, gives “Twisters” the opportunity for meaningful exchanges between the characters.
It’s also the rare action/disaster flick, that values brains over brawn in almost every sticky situation the characters find themselves in.
For all the character work, “Twisters” misses an opportunity with the expected, and more than hinted at, romance between Kate and Tyler. As it is their attraction that has all the heat of an Oklahoma winter’s night.
“Twisters” may not have the consistent, blustery excitement of the original, but it does deliver satisfying wet ‘n wild summer blockbuster action.
“Where the Crawdads Sing,” the Reese Witherspoon-produced movie, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Delia Owens and now playing in theatres, is a bildungsroman. That may sound like the name of a frenetic Hobbit wedding dance or a syrupy-sweet Klingon dessert, but it’s actually just a fancy word for a study of a person’s formative years or spiritual education. Ripe with themes of abandonment, solitude and, ultimately, independence, the movie is a unique coming-of-age story that covers spiritual growth and more earthy concerns.
Set in and around the small North Carolina town of Barkley Cove, the story focusses on Kya, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. Abandoned as a child (played by Jojo Regina as a youngster), she raised herself in the nearby coastal marshlands. Nicknamed “Marsh Girl” by the locals, she is almost completely isolated. With no formal education, she learns to survive by observing the marsh wildlife.
Resilient and clever, she says, “The marsh taught me how to survive, but it didn’t teach me everything.”
When her head is turned by two young men from town, the kindly Tate (Taylor John Smith) and chauvinistic football star Chase (Harris Dickinson), she enters an unfamiliar world. Regarded with suspicion, laughed at and harassed, her life takes a dire turn when Chase turns up dead. Charged with murder and facing the death penalty, Kya must draw on all her experience to endure.
“In spite of everything trying to stomp it out,” she says, “life persists. Where out yonder, where the crawdads sing, the marsh knows one thing above all else; every creature does what it must to survive.”
“Where the Crawdads Sing” is a lot of things. It’s a love triangle, a murder mystery, a story of overcoming the odds and yet, none of it really sticks. What could have been a steamy Southern Gothic, ripe with sex and death, is, instead a sleepily paced melodrama that doesn’t deliver on the premise of female empowerment promised by the film’s intriguing lead character.
Kya could have been an electric, autodidactic character, persevering against overwhelming odds—abuse, heartbreak and abandonment—to blossom spiritually. Edgar-Jones conveys some of that through her wide-eyed performance, and her intelligence is obvious, but the resilience needed for Kya to survive and thrive is lacking.
Without a galvanizing lead character, the heart and soul of “Where the Crawdads Sing” is lost, leaving behind warmed over intrigue and melodrama.
“Fresh,” a twisted new horror satire starring Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones and now streaming on Disney+, plays like a rom com as imagined by Hannibal Lecter.
Even after a particularly bad Tinder date, twenty-something singleton Noa (Edgar-Jones) is not willing to listen to her best friend Mollie (Jojo T. Jones) when she says, “You do not need a man.” She’s looking for love, and seems to have found it, in, of all places, in the produce-section of the local supermarket.
She meets cute with Steve (Stan), a handsome, funny cosmetic surgeon, who charms her into giving her his phone number, and then says, “I’m not going to text you… but I’ll really want to.”
Nonetheless, they arrange a date, and things get hot ‘n heavy “somewhere between the second and third drink.” They spark and wind up back at her place. The next day, after a meal and a dance, he says, “We should go somewhere. Somewhere nice. Maybe it will be a surprise.”
Noa, hungry for love, agrees to the weekend getaway, only to learn of her new boyfriend’s sick, deadly secret.
“Fresh” is darkly comedic and stomach churningly grim. It’s a Midnight Movie unafraid to take its deadly dating metaphor to bloody extremes. The first thirty minutes play out as a romance but when the title credit pops up on screen it brings with it a dark tone—and an unpleasant interpretation of what the name actually means—that lingers until the intense final scene. It breathes the same air as “Promising Young Woman” in its mix of modern allegory and horror, but when the going gets gruesome, it stands on its own.
Director Mimi Cave, working from a script by Lauryn Kahn, weaves social commentary about the commodification of women and modern-day dating into the story. It’s bold storytelling bolstered by a relatable performance from Edgar-Jones that fits like a puzzle piece with Stan’s weirdly chipper oddball character. As Steve, he is suave and sadistic, in what may be his meatiest role to date. In an odd way, given the machinations of the story, they have great chemistry.
“Fresh” is stylishly directed, with strong performances, but feels too leisurely in its approach. Cave spends time setting up the romance (and what comes after BUT NO SPOILERS HERE) but doesn’t afford the same luxury to the characters. If we knew more about Noa, Steve and Mollie the stakes, already high, would be much higher. Still, even though “Fresh” goes on too long, it manages to find a satisfyingly squeamish and memorable way to put a period on the story for patient viewers.
