The new film tweaks the formula a little: In Twister, the genius lured back into the storm-chasing game was a man, played by Bill Paxton; in Twisters, it’s a woman, played by Daisy Edgar-Jones. In Twisters, the character was part of a ragtag rebel army; in Twisters, he joins the corporate team because a friend (Anthony Ramos) promises that his cutting-edge surveillance hardware will capture “the most perfect scan of a tornado ever.” Apparently, that’s a big deal.
Still, there’s a chance she’ll defect to the other gang, especially since it’s led by a swaggering, incredibly handsome cowboy played by Glen Powell who at first seems intent on getting people to subscribe to his YouTube channel and buy his T-shirts, but who might turn out to be a brilliant scientist with a sensitive heart.
Another difference between the two films is that, far into the Twisters arc, one of the teams decides to not only scan the tornado, but to weaken it with absorbent material from disposable diapers. No joke. But since the new film is essentially a remake of the old one, it seems oddly disrespectful to pay tribute to any of the original cast. Couldn’t they have had Helen Hunt in a cameo? Couldn’t they have mentioned characters played by the late Bill Paxton or the late Philip Seymour Hoffman?
The film’s co-writer, Joseph Kosinski, directed a belated but faithful sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, but can you imagine how strange it would have been without Tom Cruise’s Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in it?
