Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos and Glen Powell in “Twisters.”
How do the reviews of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell’s new action movie Twisters stack up against reviews of the original Twister with Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt?
Critics, of course, are bound to compare the two films to each other because technically, Twisters is a standalone sequel to 1996’s Twister.
Edgar-Jones has noted how there are similarities between Twisters and Twister, including an appearance by the “Dorothy” weather device used in the original film.
None of the original cast members from Twister appears in Twisters, although the late Bill Paxton’s son, James Paxton, does make a cameo appearance in the movie as a complaining guest during a motel desk scene opposite Powell and Edgar-Jones.
1996 BILL PAXTON AND HELEN HUNT AS JO HARDING IN THE ACTION THRILLER “TWISTER”
Directed by Jan de Bont, Twister stars Hunt as Jo Harding, a meteorologist who has been haunted her entire life after losing her father during a F5 tornado strike.
Paxton stars as Jo’s estranged husband Bill, a former storm-chaser-turned-meteorologist.
Twisters—directed by Lee Isaac Chung—stars Edgar-Jones as Kate Carter, a meteorologist and former storm chaser who is traumatized by a past tornado-related tragedy. In attempt to put the trauma behind her, Kate moves from her home in Oklahoma to work with the National Weather Service in New York City.
After Kate’s former colleague, Javi (Anthony Ramos) convinces her to return to Oklahoma to help his storm-tracking company during a tornado outbreak in the state, Kate encounters Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a tornado-chasing YouTube influencer.
Critics Favor ‘Twisters’ Over ‘Twister’
While the rating could fluctuate as new reviews of the movie flow in, Rotten Tomatoes critics are clearly favoring the new Twisters movie over the original Twister.
As of Friday, RT critics have collectively given Twisters a 78% “fresh” rating, based on 230 reviews. The site’s Critics Consensus reads, “Summoning a storm of spectacle and carried along by the gale force winds of Glen Powell’s charisma, Twisters‘ forecast is splendid with a high chance of thrills.
RT users, meanwhile, love the movie even more, as the movie has earned a 93% “fresh” Audience Score based on more than 500 viewer ratings.
As for the original Twister, RT critics gave the film a 67% “fresh” rating based on 137 reviews. The film Critics’ Consensus reads, “A high-concept blockbuster that emphasizes special effects over three-dimensional characters, Twister‘s visceral thrills are often offset by the film’s generic plot.”
RT users, meanwhile, gave Twister a 58% “rotten” score based on 250,000-plus user ratings.
The next face-off between Twisters and Twister will come at the box office when Twisters opens on 4,000 screens on Friday. Variety projects that Twisters will make $55 million in North American theaters against a $155 million budget before prints and advertising.
The original Twister was a behemoth at the box office in 1996, making, per Box Office Mojo, $241.8 million domestically and $252.7 million for a worldwide tally of $494.5 million against a $92 million production budget before P&A.
In today’s dollars, Twister’s 1996 gross equates to $988.1 million, according to Amortization. Meanwhile, the film’s $92 million production cost would equate to a $183.8 million production spend today.
Twisters opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The original Twister is streaming on Max.