Movie review: The thunder and fury (and not much else) of ‘Into The Storm’

Picture, if you will, a team of storm chasers tearing across the American Midwest with specially designed equipment in search of tornados. Their ultimate goal: To track down and document firsthand the physical center of one of the most destructive natural forces on the planet. With casualties and property damage on the rise as the tornados increase in frequency and ferocity, the lead storm chaser is forced to consider if his dedication has been replaced by deadly obsession. Throw in some standard domestic issues, a host of stock characters, generous doses of computer-generated mayhem, and one or two flying cows, and you have 2014’s “Into the Storm”. Unfortunately, you also have “Twister.”
 
Okay, to be fair, the cow in “Into the Storm” is made of wood, and the film isn’t really a straight-up remake of the second-highest grossing flick of 1996, but for all intents and purposes, it may as well be; both are unapologetic disaster films whose main selling point is the large-scale chaos wrought by malevolent weather phenomena and, on that front, “Into the Storm” delivers.

Where “Into the Storm’s” wind and fury peter out into a light breeze, however, is in the story department. The aforementioned storm chasers are led by Pete (Matt Walsh of TV’s “Veep”), whose reckless bravado and experience are tempered by satellite data collated by Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies, “The Walking Dead”). Assisted by a camera crew, Pete’s ultimate goal is to film the eye of a storm by parking and anchoring his heavily armored vehicle directly in the path of an oncoming tornado.

Richard Armitage (“The Hobbit’s” Thorin Oakenshield) also stars as Gary Morris, the vice principal of a small-town high school. Concerned with making sure the school’s graduation ceremony goes off without a hitch, Morris has assigned his eldest son, Jacob (Max Deacon) to document the event. Assisting Jacob and rounding out the Morris family is his peculiarly muscular younger brother, Trey (Nathan Kress). However, Jacob’s attention is concentrated on his crush, Kaitlyn (Alycia Debnam-Carey), which leads to the couple becoming (in)conveniently isolated when the tornados hit.

Back in 1996, we were only three years into the computer-generated visual effects revolution kickstarted by “Jurassic Park’s” rampaging dinos, so the notion of a brainless, big budget CGI tornado flick was something of a novelty. These days, with flawlessly gorgeous virtual imagery gracing more films than one cares to count, audiences probably aren’t so easily wowed. Of course, where “Twister’s” silliness was kept somewhat in check with a script by Michael Crichton and performances from Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes and Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Into the Storm” stars Armitage’s horrible impression of an American accent, a “Friday Night Lights” secondary character, and the guy best known for being in love with “iCarly”.
 
Compounding matters is the film’s inability to decide what kind of movie it wants to be. While the film was promoted (and even starts out) as a "found footage" narrative a la “Paranormal Activity,” we are frequently shown angles and shots that would be impossible to achieve from the characters’ established points-of-view. After a while, the switching from handheld amateur sources to professionally composed widescreen beauty shots (and back again, often in the same scene) gets so distractingly obtrusive, you begin to wonder why the gimmick was utilized in the first place. Did director Stephen Quayle (“Final Destination 5”) forget what he was supposed to be doing, or did he just lose interest halfway through? What made films like “Paranormal Activity” work was their commitment to the format, with the dedicated viewpoints forcing you to assume the role of an active participant in the onscreen carnage, as opposed to the more traditional stance of a detached observer.

Fortunately, due to the cast’s relatively low profile (aside from Armitage), the bulk of the budget most likely went into the titular storms, and it shows. No variety of twister is left unseen, save for the kind that suck water up into their spouts – small ones, big ones, fire(!) ones, and even twin tornados all make an appearance here. The destruction on display is spectacular, with narrow escapes and collateral damage delivered in escalating ferocity until we are finally presented with what looks to be the mother of all tornados. Believe me when I say that this is probably going to about as close as you will ever want to get to one of these meteorological monsters.

Inconsistent storytelling and anorexic narrative notwithstanding, this is one hell of an exciting ride, delivering all the carnage and close calls action junkies could hope for. Sadly, like all the best roller coasters, this is one of those films you probably won’t remember much about ten minutes after leaving the theater. — BM, GMA News

 "Into The Storm" is now showing in theaters.