Into The Storm (2014)
Steve Barton
|
Starring Sara Wayne Callies, Alycia Debnam Carey, Max Deacon, Arlen Escarpeta, Jeremy Sumpter
Directed by Steven Quale
Disaster movies ain’t what they used to be. So what if they had cheesy effects and silly subplots? There was a certain charm to 70s stunt-cast movies like The Towering Inferno, Earthquake, and The Poseidon Adventure. As the decades progressed, so did the sophistication of the audiences and the level of sfx skill. From The Perfect Storm to The Impossible, we’ve seen lots of realistic and quite gripping “horror of nature” films.
The gold standard recipe for disaster seems to have landed somewhere between drama and dazzle – and that movie is undeniably 1996’s blockbuster Twister. Even though the seminal tornado movie is arguably The Wizard of Oz, there will be lots of comparisons to Twister when Into the Storm comes whooshing out.
The plot goes something like this: Within just a few hours the town of Silverton is ravaged and devastated by an unprecedented blitzkrieg of tornadoes. The entire berg is at the mercy of these lethal cyclones, but meteorologists and storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Some seek shelter while others embrace the verve of the vortex.
Shelter-seekers include high school students Kaitlyn and Donnie (Alycia Debnam Carey and Max Deacon), hiding in an old abandoned building, only to find themselves in the water-filled death trap. Soon submerged up to their chins, the kids share secret hopes and dreams, thinking it may be the last time. Add 1 part drama to 2 cups of water.
Meanwhile, Donnie’s dad and brother (Richard Armitage and Nathan Kress) are searching for him, braving the wicked weather. Fortunately the family finds allies in reckless celebrity storm chaser Pete (Matt Walsh) and his team (Sarah Wayne Callies, Arlen Escarpeta and Jeremy Sumpter). Mix 2 parts nature’s fury with 1 cup of suspense.
Directed by workman Steven Qaule and written by newbie John Swetnam, Into the Storm teeters on the brink of mediocrity. Luckily, it doesn’t quite fall into the pool – yes, there are clichés, shameless emotion manipulation and cardboard cutout characters; but the moments of suspense and the renderings of relentless killer storms are at times truly breathtaking and every bit as intense as Twister.
If you’re a sucker for disaster movies like me, then you’ll eat it up. If not, then wait for home viewing (preferably, on a rainy night!).
7 out of 5
Categorized:News
