Movie Review - Into the Storm

Into the Storm (2014)

Starring Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callis, Matt Walsh, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, and Alycia Debnam Carey

Directed by Steven Quale

Were I to watch an action movie involving a bunch of tornado chasers again, I'd most certainly watch 1996's Twister if only to see Helen Hunt running around in a white tank top to satisfy my weird fascination with the actress that I used to harbor as a youth.  Is Twister any good?  I honestly don't remember, but I do remember Helen Hunt in a white tank top.  That said, Into the Storm was more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be with surprisingly good special effects considering what I can only assume was a much lower budget than most disaster pics that make it to the big screen.

Unfortunately, as is de rigueur these days, Into the Storm is told via video footage of people "on the ground" -- documentary filmmakers, students working on a time capsule, and two crazy rednecks who want Jackass levels of stardom.  Yes, those last two are legit "explanations" as to why we're watching the footage we're watching in this film.  It's a bit ridiculous.  I imagine the reasoning behind this scripting was to keep the budget lower -- less wide shots of twisters wreaking havoc the small town of Silverton (although we still get some of them which seem oddly out of place) -- but it's one of the film's most disappointing aspects.  When you couple the style of shooting with rather silly exposition for characters in an attempt to make us care about these people -- a father trying to reconcile with his sons, a mom trying to live to see her daughter again, a documentary videographer in it for the "shot of a lifetime" of the inside of the eye of tornado -- the film falls a bit on the flatter side.

Rather shockingly, however, I found Into the Storm to be an enjoyable watch.  Once the twisters start their descent on the small town, the film moves at a brisk pace, utilizing believable effects to depict nature's wrath.  There's certainly no need to go out and rush a rental on this one, but should it pop up streaming somewhere, it's a good enough diversion.

The RyMickey Rating:  C