On Saturday YaYa invited me to go see a movie with her and her man, her treat. Sure, I said, what time?
"Midnight," she said.
Midnight? I get up at six, what kind of tomfoolery was that?
I still went.
Turns out the movie was just outside of Chicago, a 90 minute drive away, and was a 4dx experience. I had a vague notion about what that was like, having been through the Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter (not a typo) at Disney back in '96. I remember the seat moving, and the hot breath of the alien on my neck.
That was little league; this was the Show.
Now things didn't start out too well, as the theater played 17 minutes of commercials before the film. 8.5 minutes of content really, as each commercial repeated once as soon as it finished. We were about to riot, but finally the theater noticed the glitch, took it to a dark screen, and then immediately fired up the movie, skipping the trailers
We'll get to the movie review in a minute, but first the 4DX: holy moley!
If the wind is blowing in the film, wind is blowing on you; if it is raining on the screen, rain falls on you; are the characters riding down a bumpy country road, taking a sharp turn, or jumping out of the way of danger?
Then brother, you move WITH THEM. That chair was bucking back, forth, up, down, side to side, like a dang carnival ride, and there were a few times I had to brace myself to stay in the seat. It was incredible, just wicked fun!
Twisters is of course, a sequel to the 1996 classic, Twister. although to be more accurate it's the second in a series, as there are no repeating characters or plot points (beyond tornados). I did not expect much from the film, especially given what appeared to be the awful acting of the young meteorology students in the opening scene. That turned out to a red herring. The movie was a blast. The action was fierce and visually impressive - perfect for 4dx - but the plot and characterization held up too, and the acting definitely shouldn't be judged by the first scene.
small spoiler - I especially loved that although there was romantic tension, there was no sex or even kissing between the main cast. In the context of working to stop an onslaught of tornadoes costing lives across the state, that was real-world accurate behavior definitely appreciated - very old school Hollywood! end spoiler
For what it is, a summer action blockbuster, I grade Twisters a well deserved A+
Go see it!
btw - I arrived home at 4am. 4!!!!
