So this is what good actors do when they are on vacation from filming excellent TV shows....they grab quick parts in crappy summer movies.
INTO THE STORM is a 2014 version of "Twister" with half the story (and there are many who would rightly point out a near lack of story in THAT film) and terrific special effects.
Matt Walsh (VEEP) is Pete, a storm chaser running out of grant money and on his last legs. Careening through the middle of the country on his tornado tank on wheels, he is followed in a second vehicle by a scientist played by Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead).
She has a young daughter at home, Pete's only priority is getting the shot...yadda yadda yadda, you've seen this all before.
Blending a "found footage" documentary style with additional dramatic scenes, all our characters find themselves in the small town of Silverton as a historic barrage of mega tornadoes hit the town.
Couple thoughts:
* this appears to be a small town, yet there are at least six 747's at the airport when it gets hit, throwing the planes in the air like toys. I know its a great shot, a "that's cool!" moment. But, six 747's at the Silverton airport....really?
* One of the tornadoes becomes a twister of fire in one of the best shots in the film. Again, cool. But where is the fire source for that tornado to burn so long? Dumb.
* There are at least a dozen tornado warnings on multiple TV channels ten minutes before the high school graduation begins, yet they continue the ceremony until golf ball size hail starts hitting them. I realize persistence is an important lesson for high school students, but this seems extreme and DUMB.
Lazy writing kills this thing and you just end up feeling bad for the cast, who are saddled with some very bad and cheesy dialogue.
One of the worst running gags in the film wastes talented comedian John Reep as a hillbilly who spends the entire film with his buddy getting thrown around the twister in a motorcycle helmet with a camera mounted in it. Reep is funny outside the film, but the role is so underwritten, the comedy just sits on screen without a single laugh.
Special effects. VERY GOOD, genuinely exciting and an A-.
Every other piece of this celluloid crap, an F.
One of the taglines talked about getting ready for the sucking sound...truth be told, you can almost hear it for 89 minutes, cause this thing really, really sucks.
We'll give it a rain soaked, wind blown D.
Comments