TWISTER
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.5 Alternative Scale: *** out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 5/10/96 (wide) Running Length: 1:52 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Violent weather) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Lois Smith,=20 Alan Ruck, Philip Seyman Hoffman Director: Jan De Bont Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce, and Michael Crichton Screenplay: Michael Crichton & Ann-Marie Martin Cinematography: Jack N. Green Music: Mark Mancina U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
As movie-goers, we expect different things from big-budget summer=20 blockbusters than we do from "normal" films. Considerations of theme=20 and character become secondary to action and mind-numbing excitement. =20 The plot is expected to be very basic -- only complex enough to frame=20 the spills and chills. JURASSIC PARK is a perfect example of this sort=20 of thing, as is last year's DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE. This year's=20 first entry is the eye-popping, ear-blasting TWISTER, Jan De Bont's=20 violent weather follow-up to SPEED.
TWISTER, which follows a team of tornado chasers as they track down=20 storms, is exciting, if a little shallow. This particular disaster=20 movie, which pits man against an implacable, unstoppable enemy, owes as=20 much to GODZILLA and JURASSIC PARK as to THE TOWERING INFERNO and THE=20 POSEIDON ADVENTURE. It's a perfect motion picture roller coaster --=20 fun, fast, and furious=85 as long as you don't think too hard.
In real life, violent weather can be both terrifying and=20 exhilarating. There's nothing quite like standing in the path of a=20 monster storm, even if it earns you the label of having a death wish (in=20 fact, it's the possibility of death that gets the adrenaline pumping). =20 TWISTER tries, with limited success, to capture that sensation. There=20 are times when the tornado strikes seem a little too "glamorized" by the=20 special effects gurus, but, in general, these ILM-fashioned monsters=20 generate enough awe to make us feel that we're watching the "finger of=20 God."
In real life, tornado chasing has a higher percentage of misses=20 than sightings, so the fact that every expedition in TWISTER unearths a=20 powerful storm comes across as a too-obvious-to-miss plot contrivance. =20 Not that we really care. De Bont keeps things moving, and, except for a=20 few feeble character-building scenes, our heroes are on the road=20 speeding after, or away from, spinning devastation.
TWISTER opens with a short prologue in June 1969. It's one of the=20 film's most effective sequences, as a family of three flees into a=20 shelter to escape an oncoming storm. The father is killed, sucked into=20 the vortex while his wife and five-year old daughter, Jo, watch. More=20 than twenty-five years later, that little girl has grown up to be a=20 tornado chaser. Played by Helen Hunt, Jo is obsessed with increasing=20 the pre-storm warning time. Accompanied by her old partner and soon-to- be-ex-husband, Bill Harding (Bill Paxton), her usual crew, and Bill's=20 fiancee (Jami Gertz), Jo is about to try out "Dorothy", a specially- built instrument designed to spit out data from inside the vortex. So,=20 in the midst of "the biggest series of storms in 12 years", Jo and Bill=20 hit the road, vying with a rival scientist (Cary Elwes) to reach each=20 new storm first.
Apparently, nature doesn't make a good enough villain, so the=20 writers of TWISTER decided to add some nasty human rivals. =20 Unfortunately, Cary Elwes' character is both unnecessary and irritating;=20 the tornadoes are enough. Equally superfluous are the romantic=20 complications in the relationship between Jo and Bill. It's a rather=20 boring subplot, and, if these two had been together from the beginning=20 (they are married, albeit almost divorced), we would have been spared=20 the presence of Jami Gertz' unappealing character.
Author Michael Crichton, not relying on one of his ultra-popular=20 bestsellers, dips into his bag of tricks to come up with a completely=20 artificial plot. Without De Bont's energetic direction, the seams in=20 Crichton's script (which was co-written with his wife, Anne-Marie=20 Martin) would have been more apparent. Fortunately, the film's fast=20 pace and stunning audio/visual elements camouflage the deficiencies. =20 And it helps that both Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton, while not "major"=20 stars, are likable and share a pleasant camaraderie. They're our guides=20 through tornado territory, and we need their stability with De Bont=20 throwing everything at us -- including the kitchen.
TWISTER is peppered with bits of information about how to react if=20 a tornado approaches, how dangerous the storms can be, etc. Despite=20 these snippets of safety-conscious advice, the movie doesn't function as=20 a public service announcement, nor should it. TWISTER doesn't have any=20 pretensions. It is what it sets out to be: an effective piece of big=20 money, early summer entertainment designed to blow viewers away.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net web: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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