Into the Storm (2014)

Summary
In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Genre : Action/Thriller
Country : USA

Cast :
Sarah Wayne Callies : Allison
Richard Armitage : Gary
Jeremy Sumpter : Jacob

Director : Steven Quale


My opinion

“Look at the size of that thing!
We're gonna be YouTube stars
for the rest of our lives!
Better than sex, Donk!
How would you know?”

Tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons. Divorced men sometimes even compare them with their ex-wife: they appear suddenly, they disappear suddenly and before you know it you lost everything and are left behind penniless. So these are phenomena you don't want to encounter too much. Apparently it's the fault of a global warming (which must be in other corners in the world because where I live it's still cold, chilly and mostly wet) that causes tornadoes to appear so often and primarily plague the US mainland. Here in Europe fortunately we have less problems with it. Eating soup with brown beans will cause more commotion and turbulence than these natural phenomena. The tornado you can admire in "Into the storm" is of an exceptional caliber and you can hardly call it a "storm in a teacup". But if it was the intention to surpass the movie "Twister" from 1986, then they failed in all areas. It's a sad attempt, stuffed with boring cliches, terrible performances with boring and sometimes idiotic dialogues, now and then really bad CGI and nonsensical situations.

Pete (Matt Walsh) and his team are a group of professional "Storm Chasers". They have been on the road for a terrible long time, trying to film the eye of a hurricane. Apparently he has contracted the wrong academic counselor because Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies), a single mother and climatologist,  succeeds in sending them in the wrong direction every time. So they always show up to late and the devastating hurricane already packed his bags, to the annoyance of Pete who sees his financial sponsorship gradually drying up due to the lack of results. Eventually they end up in Silverton where a super-storm apparently will strike. Here we meet a typical family with the death boring father Gary (Richard Armitage) and his two teenage sons Donnie (Max Deacon) and Trey (Nathan Kress). You can say that their family situation is quite stormy.

First, lets start with the positive things.
The opening scene was perfect. A tasty begin that made me lean back in anticipation of an entertaining evening while watching a natural disaster. A bunch of teenagers swallowed by an oncoming tornado, led directly to the right atmosphere. Unfortunately, however, it remained with this particular moment.
The two hillbillies took care of the hilarious part. Two clodhoppers racing through the countryside with a quad, handling a handy-cam and smartphone so they can make the perfect film of the storm, which they can post on You Tube so they become world famous and rich. A splendid duo that made me think of a "Dumb and Dumber" variant located in a disaster movie.
Some sequences with the raging tornado was eye candy. It looked real and the made destructions were imaged effectively. Especially the airport scene was prime. I was just wondering why such a small village needed such a mega-airport.

Which part was bad in this film? Actually, just about the rest. First, the untold number of cliches they swept together. A short list: the disinterested father coping with his sons, the son who's still dealing with the loss of his mother and blames his father, the impossible love who looks down on the nerd Donnie (with such an indignant look) at the beginning and you already can guess how this eventually will work out, trees that just happened to be blocking the last bus in a long line (and only the protagonists were sitting in it initially. Perfectly organized !), the father who's dominated by the headmaster but in the end puts him in his place, again a single mother and a lonely father and how they grow to each other is also so predictable. Secondly, the poor performances. Some dialogues felt so forced and uninspired. Sometimes it seemed like a soap opera that took place in a disastrous situation. With the ultimate heartbreaking moment when Gary saves Donnie and they fall into each others arms. The fact that most of them are only known from TV series, says enough.

Third, one can't exceed such a brilliant film like "Twister", which was impressive and original even though it's a film from the 80's, by simply showing four tornadoes raging simultaneously on the screen. And the way they appeared and disappeared, was also a bit exaggerated. And who remembers the flying, mooing cows in "Twister" ? Such hilarious moments were non-existent in "Into the Storm". Fourth, the CGI was not that impressive. A heap of Dinky Toys models that were blown together and buildings looking like cardboard boxes being destroyed. Fifth: the end with the immense pipeline under the road was too bizarre for words. Due to the immense suction, everyone had to cling onto something. But still there was someone standing in the background, filming everything. Astounding! 
 

Conclusion: A faint duplicate of the movie "Twister", without conviction and swagger. It was even necessary to take part in the "Footage" hype of today. The dumb duo was the only bright spot in this film in my opinion. So, you have some spare time and nothing to do, then this is an alternative to waste your time. But there's really nothing in this film that will blow you away .... 
 

My rating 3/10
Links : IMDB