Why Twisters is an amazing movie
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I really love analyzing films and I need to talk about this movie so badly. Get cozy, grab a nice drink because this is a long one.
Spoilers below
1) Disaster film - Human vs Nature
Disasters films are one of the most difficult movies to write and shoot because itās human vs nature and people can only do so much. They are to remind us that we are very fragile, nature very dangerous, and a visual metaphor for the illusion of control. Making a film like this also requires a lot of CGI or a balanced mix of practical effects which in most films today is not as common due to budget.
When looking at films like San Andres (2015) or Day After Tomorrow (2004), both films are more action based. San Andres is written worse to worse before it gets better which is externally common in films like these, the earth quakes that lead to a tsunami and so on. The film also ends with the hopeful āwe wonā with the American flag and everyone recovering.
What makes Twisters stand out is the presence of the disasters are there but they arenāt what drive the characters solely, the tornadoes themselves are actually a subplot. Itās not tragedy after tragedy, like thereās an ungodly amount of tornadoes at once and people are dying left and right. And when people died it wasnāt graphic, I appreciated that very much that it was only people being swept away and not bloody. The tornadoes themselves only take up about 30 minutes of the 2 hour movie, which is very little compared to other storm films.
The main story is Kate working to overcome her trauma and relearning how to love chasing and being in the field again. They are an obstacle that do end being the āantagonistā towards the end of the film where Kate drives into the EF5 to stop it. Twisters is more written in a way to respect nature, to see the beauty and the power of the earth. Twisters also ends more ambiguous, there is the moment of triumph but itās very short lived before the resolution of Javi, Kate and Tyler at the airport.
2) Kateās Character & Relationships
Kate is one of the best written female protagonists Iāve seen in a very long time. Through the film she is struggling to over come a lot of trauma while also trying to juggle her crumbled friendship with Javi and her disconnection with her mother. Her struggles are very real, they werenāt played down or exaggerated, she had realistic response to being in a tornado again after the death of her friends. They also show her reliving that event many times, in the beginning we see a āghostā of Jeb telling sheās okay, the moment she sees a tornado with Javi up close, she stumbles back and the voices of Jeb as theyāre riding out the storm in the pool and how she grabs Tylerās hand for a second to see if he was still there.
I personally loved that she refused to acknowledge her fear when around others because that is a very human thing, many people do it which makes her very dimensional and relatable. How she didnāt give Ben her last name, how she told Riggs she wasnāt scared. Itās such a real things that it makes me froth at the mouth because it such good writing.
As many people are upset that Kate and Tyler didnāt kiss, I actually agree on why they cut it out, itās not about their budding romance. In movies there are many different subplots, in Twisters, Kate and Tyler are I would say around subplot C. Which I LOVED, i loved that they didnāt have all her problems fixed by a love interest or how his character downplayed her intelligence. In fact he elevated her character, Tyler is there to remind her the passion and fun of their field, he is also a blank slate with Kate, he has no preconceptions about her or history which allows her to open up and reignite her passion she had before.
And her hair symbolism! How we see it slowly gets more brown and less bright beach blonde that we see in New York.
Kate and Javiās relationship I would also place at subplot B, Javi trying to get Kate back in the field but doing it in a not so right way. They have some unresolved issues between them regarding the trauma they share and it rears its head multiple times. The line āthree of my best friends died while you were trying to land a big fat grant.ā Was a real nail in the coffin for them but also it opened Javiās character development up for the end of the film. Not only that but they and audience known that he agreed to getting the money at the beginning. So them splitting up was good because neither of them could get what they wanted or process anything when they were together. And in the end the come back together when they grow and change.
Also have to mention Kate and her mom, because itās more growth for Kate, her mom comes in as the mentor character type, she refused to let Kate throw anything away and pushed her and Tyler together because she saw what he was doing.
3) Tyler Owens & The Wranglers
Of course I have to talk about our favorite tornado cowboy. His character is so interesting, he adds so much to each character, like a said above he only lifted Kate up.
But what I loved most about him was the infectious enthusiasm and passion he just oozed about weather. Even with the cocky YouTube personality he was having fun which was a contrast to Javi and Kate who were there on business. He is also very bright, instead of having a self taught chaser he had a degree, he knows what heās doing and how to be safe while doing stupid stuff. The scenes where we see him showing her science side were some of my favorites, seeing him geek out over the storms and setting up models just showed heās as much as a nerd and Kate.
His character is also very compassionate as well as the wranglers. We learn they sell merch so they can provide free food and water to survivors, that Tyler and Boone spent a while looking for a dog and that Lilly offered Kate food before she left. We see Tyler put himself in danger for the safety of others many times but not in a hero archetype way, heās not a hero in any way, heās a man who deeply cares, understands tragedy and knows how important friends and family are.
4) Music & Sound
Oh my god, the music in the film is phenomenal. Sound makes up a good majority of a movie, without good sound a film can flop. What I loved most about it was a lot of the music was diegetic: taking place in the world and can be heard by the characters. Seen(or heard) Aināt No Love In Oklahoma playing through the speakers as the wranglers roll up, accompanied by a shot of the loud speakers on the motor home and the audio editing to make it sound like itās coming from said speakers. (Ghost) Riders in the Sky blasting while they go to shoot fireworks, seeing Tyler whipping the truck through the field very recklessly also sets up that these characters are wild and obnoxious. Boone singing along to Dead End Road while loading flares, it adds another element of fun for them to interact with the music instead of it there so let for aesthetics.
If there was music for the action scenes, it wasnāt overpowering, in fact i barely noticed it until my third watch through.
The soundtrack is also really good, Iām not a huge country fan but my god did I by that OST vinyl so fast.
5) The Trucks
This is an honorable mention, but the red sped up dually ram was a character in its self. Once again showing the rugged and fun loving wranglers when put next to StormPARās pristine white trucks which is also a metaphor for Javi that we see it gets dirtier and dirtier as the film progresses and his character changes. But also how the red ram represents Tyler, heās very safety oriented and the truck is a part of him and protects Kate during the final storm. She puts her trust in it and lets nature run it course instead of fighting it, something Tyler was trying to teach her. Not to run from it but to ride it.
But also Tyler ripping that rig through fields going 75mph is also just so funny to me.
I love symbolism.
Iām gonna stop it here before I write a whole essay about this which I might. But if you havenāt seen this movie I highly recommend it, itās PG-13 so I suggest being careful watching this with little ones if you have them, the CGI storms can get a little freaky.
(Please let me know if you want more, I will gladly talk more)
