Storm Hunters

My family is a big movie-watching family. That's our thing. We watch a lot of different types of movies and we watch movies all the time. So I feel confident in saying I know quite a bit about movies--about what makes a good movie, how to tell a good movie from a bad movie, etc.

My mom really wanted to see "Into the Storm" because she's on kind of a Richard Armitage kick since "The Hobbit". We talked about going to the theaters to see it, but I decided to check the IMDb reviews, and they told me it was a terrible movie.

So we didn't see it. Tonight I was picking up a couple Redbox movies on my way home, and decided to get this one because why not. I wasn't expecting anything, but we were still curious about it.

So we watched it, and I LITERALLY DON'T GET all the negative reviews!! The main strike against this movie (according to the reviews) was the acting. What?! I thought the acting was really good! I thought the characters were all believable! I was able to understand and emotionally connect to all the characters--there were two scenes that made me cry a bit, and I am NOT a crier. I NEVER cry during movies. The acting and the documentary-style filming actually made me feel like I was ACTUALLY THERE (although this could probably have been even more palpable if I had seen it in theaters...that's what you get for basing a decision on IMDb reviews?), which was very stressful, but made the movie so much more enjoyable.

I have seen A LOT of bad movies in my time; "Into the Storm" doesn't even come close to making that list.

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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I picked this up for a quid second hand and thought may be worth a watch. Never heard of it before. I was really surprised by how good it was. Especially the special effects. I expected an 'Asylum studios' level film but this was amazing. Great cast.....including the beautiful woman from Fear the Walking Dead. Good story and stunning special effecta. Kept me gripped throughout.

One of the best tornado disaster films I have seen.

Unsure why woany negative reviews.

Saying worst ever!? Are they insane!? Far far worse than this hidden gem.

Best pound I have spent.

I caught an advance screening and found it a heck of a ride and thrilling fun to watch. I thought it really delivered the experience of being close up and inside the most power weather on the planet, and left me with images that I continue to chew over with awe. For a "disaster movie" it felt extremely realistic, and when you see news reports on TV or YouTube you realize this stuff happens again and again, usually in small towns just like the one in the movie, so it's completely real and they didn't really make any of this stuff up. And I really felt for the characters who, just like real people caught by these events, don't want to be in a disaster movie, they just want to get out of there alive. It got pretty emotional by the end.

I don't get all the negative reviews I've been reading, I thought it was really good and delivered a great night out. What do people want, stupid Sharknado? Whatever, I had a good time watching it. And I'm glad I caught it on a big screen instead of renting it later. Seeing it big and overwhelming is the way to go!

'INTO THE STORM': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Found footage disaster flick directed by Steven Quale and written by John Swetnam. Quale previously directed the horror sequel 'FINAL DESTINATION 5' and also co-directed the underwater documentary 'ALIENS OF THE DEEP', with James Cameron; he also served as a second unit director on Cameron's 'AVATAR' and 'TITANIC'. Swetnam also wrote the horror flick 'EVIDENCE' and the dance film sequel 'STEP UP ALL IN' (which was released the same weekend as 'INTO THE STORM', for some reason). The movie stars Richard Armitage (of 'THE HOBBIT' films fame), Sarah Wayne Callies and Matt Walsh. I thought it started out slow but ended up with a bang; pretty entertaining stuff!

The film is set in the town of Silverton, on high school graduation day. Vice-principal Gary Morris (Armitage) has asked his two sons, Donnie (Max Deacon) and Trey (Nathan Kress), to make a time capsule video, to be viewed in 25 years, of the seniors speaking about where they hope to be in their lives. A deadly storm is about to hit town but the community is unaware of it. At the same time an experienced storm chaser named Pete (Walsh), and his team, have tracked the storm to Silverton; they're hoping to capture tornado footage for a documentary movie they're filming. The storm turns out to be much bigger, and more dangerous, than even they anticipated.

There is a lot of character development but it's not well written and the acting is pretty bad. Walsh is great as the obsessed storm chaser but none of the other characters are very memorable. The first half of the movie is pretty slow, and boring, but it doesn't matter; once the movie gets to the action you get what you paid for. The effects are really well done and the movie is surprisingly suspenseful. I guess you do end up caring about the characters enough to care about what happens to them; because there are some really intense moments. Quale proves to be a goof FX and action flick director here and the movie does remind me of a more B movie version of 'TWISTER' (one of my favorite disaster flicks).

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