Twisters is a fun (if simple), natural, and intense thriller about the titular weather disaster. In this standalone sequel to the original ’96 classic Twister, a traumatized tornado chaser, Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar Jones), gets redrawn into the field after her fiancé and previous Twister team are ripped by such winds years before. Through request by the incident’s only other survivor, Javi (Anthony Ramos), she returns to her rural Oklahoma hometown to find multiple storm chaser factions. One, led by the charming “Tornado Wrangler” Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), quickly competes for storm-catching dibs with Kate and Javi. Kate and Tyler, meanwhile, discover their robust storm-yearning similarities—and new first-hand encounters with the storms’ fatal results. Kate and Tyler must use their knowledge and excitement to help those affected, facing bits of their past and current flaws in the process.

Trauma is brutal. It shows up in many ways for most people, gets expressed in others, and usually takes years of therapy or medical assistance to heal from. Something that could affect you in childhood or other years – even a fleeting moment – can haunt you and dictate your reactions and behaviors for years. Twisters demonstrates the weight and uncontrollable consequences such natural disasters bring. Kate’s past complicates her relationship with the chase and storms, given that her tragedies resulted from mislabeling that past tornado as a minor EF-1 instead of a fatal EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita tornado scale. Because of that, each time she returns to the field, she gets hit with waves of familiar muscle tension and panic; tornadoes appear much more fatal than fun now.

Though initially her competitor, Tyler contrasts Kate’s ridgid caution with a like-minded, more optimistically reckless mindset. While he acknowledges his fear of getting twistered, he tells Kate the most vital lesson learned from his veteran storm hunting years: “You don’t face your fears, you ride ’em.” His devilish persona, unrelenting will, and understanding of the storms’ effects show Kate why her presence is necessary. As the storms intensify and even claim entire towns, Kate must allow herself to reel from her past to help those in need in the present. Trauma can dissolve.

Though not directly mentioned, the storms’ intensification also exemplifies a striking parallel to current changes in global weather patterns. Thanks to climate change driven by mostly greedy companies and the rich, the world is getting warmer, and storms are getting heftier. Storms like tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods will occur more frequently and severely. Twisters illustrates these storms’ potential seismic impacts; bigger and bigger storms rip through towns quicker and quicker as the film progresses. Regardless of Kate’s traumas and Tyler’s fears, these storms do not care; people will die, and communities will collapse unless something is done – just like in reality.

While Twisters does deliver a surprising amount of emotional depth and environmental realism, it lacks unpredictability and general excitement. As soon as the opening sequence closes, the film’s plot – down to even lines and scene-for-scene line-ups – is knowable. This heavily waters down the film’s impact and narrative trajectory beyond tornado sequences, as everything said and done is known beforehand. The storms, performances, and resilient spirit still shine, but not enough to make Twisters more than a monotonously basic summer blockbuster. There could have been a lot more work done to keep things moving. Overall, though, Twisters is highly entertaining and slightly more engaging than expected, thanks to big winds and solid performances.

Opens Friday, 7/19 in theaters everywhere