Into the Storm

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': 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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'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!

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!