By ERIN SOMERVILLE
Into The Storm (M)
Starring: Matt Walsh, Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Deacon
WHEN I was eight, all I wanted to be was a twister chaser.
You can thank Helen Hunt for that one.
The 1996 blockbuster Twister is still an all-time favourite flick of mine, so I was pretty excited when I heard there was finally another tornado movie out.
Great storm graphics, people running, and lots of wind basically sums up the 89 minutes of Into the Storm.
Okay, so the movie won’t win any awards for sophisticated storylines or characters, but if you like a good storm scene, this movie has plenty.
Set in the fictional town of Silverton in the south-west of the US, this doco-style film sees basically the town’s entire population conveniently gathered at the local high school for graduation, before a series of freak tornadoes decide to constantly mow the school down.
Some would call it a sucky situation.
Cue “Hero Dad in storm” moment when he discovers his son is not at the high school, but actually in an old mill across town doing a film project with a girl he fancies.
Meanwhile, Hero Dad meets up with a group of stormchasers who are looking to catch their break with their latest technology to get information from inside the storm.
Sounds familiar?
It’s basically Twister 18 years too late.
Cowboy storm chasers? Check. Cars falling from the sky? Check. Beloved older character hurt in tornado alongside a dishevelled dog? Check. Freak storm cells? Check. Latest technology to study a storm? Check.
There is no originality, but Into The Storm is a blatant graphics spectacle, and the tornadoes are its only star.
There is no fear of getting attached to any character who might get sucked up into the sky, as it is plainly evident the writers only use the one-dimensial characters as pawns to run away from wonderfully created twisters.
You can’t help but get a little tense and enjoy the suspense as they run for their cardboard lives, though.
For a cheap thrill, head on down to Regent Cinemas to see Into The Storm.
It’s terribly good.
