Is ‘Twisters’ A Blockbuster Whirlwind? Fly Me To The Moon, Longlegs | See It or Skip It
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4) — Will Twisters be whipping everyone up in a frenzy this weekend, or will you be blasting off with the new Space-race romantic-comedy? ABC4 Film Critic Patrick Beatty is here to tell us what to see and what to skip.
Twisters
Where to Watch: Theaters
Directed By:
Lee Isaac Chung
Written By:
Mark L. Smith, Joseph Kosinski, Michael Crichton
Starring:
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos
Genre:
Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rated PG-13
All media courtesy of Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures
It “Twisters” Katie Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is a retired Tornado-chaser who left the field after a fatal tragedy involving her team. Years later, she’s recruited by an old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) to help him study tornados for a company collecting the data, but they aren’t the only ones racing to the twister.
Glen Powell plays Tyler, a YouTuber and self-titled “Tornado-Wrangler” who is right on Katie and Javi’s tail, looking to get right in the middle of the action. But, as the saying goes “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”, and these teams may be up against impossible, life-threatening death-spirals that they may not be able to escape.
What I love about this movie is how they are able to perfectly execute the “Requel” formula. No, this isn’t a direct sequel to “Twister”, but they aren’t completely ignoring what came before and rebooting the franchise. “Twisters” falls somewhere in the middle, foraging ahead with their own take while paying respect to the original. University of Utah alumni and director Lee Isaac Chung makes a point to give the audience an action thriller first and avoids trying to bring in unnecessary points that take away from the entertainment value.
There is some conversation about corporations, and how they try to profit off of tragedy, especially with natural disasters such as tornadoes. It’s a point that is true, but the focus is on Katie and Tyler and their relationship. Glen Powell is continuing his rise to movie stardom with a scenery-chewing performance. I love his character arc and his chemistry with Daisy Edgar-Jones, I think if they weren’t in this the movie would not be as good.
The sound design of the tornado’s hard-hitting, intense, and will shake whatever theater you are sitting in. “Twisters” was made for the big screen and should be seen with the best sound possible. This is the perfect summer movie blockbuster and one that I hope we see a continuation of.
See It or Skip It? See It
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Fly Me To The Moon
Where to Watch: Theaters
Directed By:
Greg Berlanti
Written By:
Keenan Flynn, Bill Kirstein, Rose Gilroy
Starring:
Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum, Woody Harrelson
Genre:
Comedy, Romance
Rated PG-13
All media courtesy of Apple Studios
“Fly Me to the Moon” is a charming romantic comedy set during the Moon landing. Scarlett Johansson plays Kelly Jones, a marketing genius who is tasked by a secret government agent played by Woody Harrelson to get the public on the side of NASA and landing on the moon.
Channing Tatum plays Cole Davis, a NASA engineer and former astronaut who is desperate to get the ship off the ground and into space as safely as possible for the astronauts. Now he has to work alongside Kelly who is taking control of NASA’s image whether he approves or not, all in the common goal of getting more funding, and beating the Russians in the space race.
There’s something about this era of American history that is truly fascinating and for me, a lot of that comes from the Space race. Director Greg Berlanti does a good job of keeping the focus on the relationship of the lead characters while interweaving the needs of NASA in the story.
I liked looking at the space race from a promotion and marketing viewpoint. Public opinion was not strong during this time, so Kelly had the idea to make the three astronauts famous. from cereal, and watches, to orange juice, their names and faces were put anywhere people could see to help raise public awareness and excitement. That excitement would then lead to the government siding with the public and giving the Space program the money they need to safely get to the Moon.
Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson have good chemistry, and I like their partnership which can be good or impossible to get. Woody Harrelson plays his part well, but there’s not a bigger side to his character other than being that behind-the-scenes agent. Overall this is a corny but cute watch that anyone could enjoy.
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Longlegs
Where to Watch: Theaters
Directed By:
Osgood Perkins
Written By:
Osgood Perkins
Starring:
Maika Monroe, Nicolas Cage, Blair Underwood
Genre:
Crime, Horror, Thriller
Rated R
All media courtesy of NEON
Longlegs stars Maika Monroe (It Follows) as Agent Lee Harker, a new officer who is immediately thrust into one of the worst serial killer cases in the town’s history. The Killer, who goes by the name “Longlegs”, leaves demonic clues to his victims and somehow can kill without so much as entering their homes.
This leaves agents completely at a loss of how to collect enough evidence to find out who he is. Agent Harker is partnered with veteran Agent Carter, who can tell his partner is smart and could potentially crack the case, but now Longlegs is leaving Harker clues. Will she be able to catch him before he finds her?
“LongLegs” had an impressive marketing campaign that made many fans look to this as the next “Silence of the Lambs”, “Seven”, or “Zodiac”, and while it is a scary crime thriller, I’m not sure it met movie fans expectations with those heavy comparisons to film greats.
Maika Monroe and Blair Underwood are great and have a good cop-rookie chemistry. The detective side of the film and the investigation feel deliberately slower-paced and methodical and both never felt dull to me. Nicolas Cage is hardly shown from the neck up, bringing more horror to his scenes where he’s choosing his victims. I wish we had more backstory about Longlegs and his motivations other than his pagan worship.
There’s a lot of satanic imagery and storytelling especially in the third act that if you are religious might have a tough time sitting through. to me, the issue was with how little we get as far as a story with this, instead, we’re meant to interpret much on our own. While I think it’s interesting, at the end of the movie you’re left with more questions than answers and that may be the weakest part overall. Still, this is a good horror film to watch.
See It or Skip It? See It
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