Into the Storm

There are bad movies that are just intolerable to sit through. And then there's "Into the Storm".

Jan de Bont's 1996 "Twister" came into cinemas like – and excuse the pun – a blast of fresh air. Whilst "Into the Storm" is not exactly a remake (there are no cows present at all for example!), it shares many of the key characteristics that made Twister such a fun popcorn movie: a truly terrible script, some pretty awful acting in places, a predictable plot, and the occasional mind-bogglingly improbable scene, but all redeemed by some slam-dunk fantastic visual effects.

Firstly, the script. Sneak a shot glass and a flask into the cinema and play the new drinking game: a shot for every time anyone says "Are you alright?". You'll be legless before the first hour is up.

Secondly the acting. This is a cast where the most well-known faces are Richard Armitage (Thorin in the Hobbit films) and Matt Walsh (Mike McLintock in the excellent "Veep"). And I don't like to be harsh on a young cast of actors in the early dawn of their careers, but let's say that some of the cast were probably cast more for their looks than their acting talent. I also struggled with Armitage's single dad/school principal character who in certain scenes (particularly one in the front of the stormchaser's van) looks the spitting image of Leslie Nielsen's Dr Rumack from "Airplane". I almost expected him to go off into that character at any moment – – "No, the school won't be safe. And don't call me Shirley".

One of the youngsters that I think did make an impact was Nathan Kress in his movie debut as the younger son Trey.

The predictable plot. No spoilers, but there's a small town and lots of tornadoes: "bigger than any storm that's ever been" (since "Twister" anyway). The plot, as it is, centres around a failing documentary film crew trying to capture good footage before the tornado season is up: with backer's funding drying up, the pressure is on. Walsh plays the hard-pressed producer/director sparking off the Helen Hunt character Allison, played by the fetching Sarah Wayne Callies, a data-besotted scientist for who, it seems, science only works for when good luck is in her favour. Aside from the film crew, the remainder of the cast are the residents and schoolkids of the backwater Oklahoma town of Silverton, with the usual disaster movie will they/won't they (die) tensions as the tornadoes wreak their havoc. Humour is injected through a couple of rednecks intent on making their fortune through Jackass-style video clips on Youtube.

The improbable scenes. Again no spoilers, but one of the characters meets an end that is massively improbable, poetic, beautifully shot and ironic…. but also snort-worthily funny. And why suddenly does sleepy old Silverton suddenly reveal itself to have a MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT with dozens of Jumbo jets waiting to be lifted into the skies? Whilst a memorable special effects scene, it makes absolutely no sense at all. It's almost as if the filmmakers got to the end of the film and found a million dollars of contingency funding they hadn't used: "What can we do with this? Oh, I know!". Bizarre.

And those effects! This is no "Sharknado"! The special effects are all top notch, including a spectacular scene where a twister gobbles up a petrol station and all of its burning fuel which is a masterclass in CGI. I have no idea where you would even start in developing that.

The director is James Cameron protégé Steven Quale (2nd unit on "Avatar" and "Titanic" and director of the passable "Final Destination V"). And all in all, I think he does a pretty good job. The film is massively helped by a sensible 90 minute running time, which is all the light plot could really sustain anyway. And it is a good decision to adopt (in part) a "Cloverfield" type of video blog format (part documentary footage; part high school 'video time capsule' interviews) that holds the interest well.

So, in summary, this is a terribly good bad film and well deserving of your summer popcorn money. Just about everyone came out of the cinema with a silly grin on their face. Nuff said.

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Yes pun intended. Also I thought the movie was not as bad as I thought going into it. And while I do like watching movies in 3D, I think it works best that way, especially considering this is all found footage. And yes there is a reason why some people try to do what the title says. But it's not all the people, some do try to get away from it too, you know! Just saying.

Back to the pun(s), you could also call this a "Thrill ride", "merry go round" and a few other fun names. But the movie itself takes itself seriously most of the time. Some light moments aside of course, which are needed. It might not always make the most sense, but it's suspenseful from start to finish and very well shot at that

Into the Storm was not a movie I had a lot of expectations for. I just wanted to have fun seeing huge tornadoes destroying everything in their path. And that's what I got for the most part in this movie. The first 15 minutes of this movie was so bad, the dialogue was atrocious, the characters were annoying and the writing was completely abysmal. But as the movie starts to show more of the tornadoes, it got really fun really quick. the movie got so much better.

One of the best aspects of this movie is how close you really get into the tornadoes. You go inside it and it looks frightening and beautiful at the same time. The visuals look amazing when you're in the movie theater. This is definitely a movie that should be seen in your nearest theater, because it was such an experience seeing the tornadoes, hearing the train-like noise when a tornadoes comes barreling towards the cities and cars. It's just so awesome.

One of the weakest aspects of this movie are the characters, we just don't care what happens to them in the movie. But the tornadoes are terrific and they keep coming on at you every twenty minutes or so for two hours. Now this can be a little tiresome, but "Into the Storm" does stop itself just in time before it completely overstays its welcome.

In the end, it's not a very good movie by any stretch of the imagination. Again, this is the film that one will either like as a guilty pleasure, like me, or you won't care for it at all. And even if you do like the movie, there is still one big lapse in the whole thing that you realize at the end. If tornadoes really did show up as often as they do in the movie in the same general area, there would be nothing left standing in the Midwest anymore. It would all be leveled.

Into the Storm is a pretty typical Disaster movie about Tornadoes that has the feel of a well made TV movie. It doesn't has the effects of 'Twister', but they okay, far better than some of the reviews make them out to be. The acting is fine, and the plot, predictable but entertaining. Good movie to pass the time but nothing more

'Into the Storm' is purely a guilty pleasure, that works as a good fun flick. Its not something remotely phenomenal, but its entertaining & visually rich, nonetheless.

'Into the Storm' Synopsis: Storm trackers, thrill-seekers, and everyday townspeople document an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes touching down in the town of Silverton.

'Into the Storm' is visually brilliant, with the tornado bits leaving you awe-struck. The visual effects are definitely the high-point of the enterprise. John Swetnam's Screenplay, on the other-hand, never takes itself too seriously & hence it works. Steven Quale's Direction is crisp, he's handled the film well. Brian Pearson's Cinematography is eye-filling. Eric A. Sears's Editing is sharp.

Performance-Wise: Richard Armitage is a fine actor & he expectedly performs well. Sarah Wayne Callies has her moments. Matt Walsh is first-rate. Nathan Kress is excellent. Max Deacon lends good support.

On the whole, 'Into the Storm' is best enjoyed with a huge tub of popcorn!