 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Into the Storm • Year: 2014 • Country: USA • Director: Steven Quale • Main cast: Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh • Runtime: 89 minutes • Production company: Broken Road Productions, New Line Cinema, RatPac-Dune Entertainment TRAILER |
In the mid 90s, Hollywood studios made an attempt to resurrect disaster movies, a genre that was quite successful decades before. They tried almost everything, tornados, volcanoes, meteorites crashing the Earth, the Titanic sinking…. Mother Nature’s wrath at its best. So we take the “tornadoes” sub-genre to talk about the movie we have in hands today.
When you talk about tornado movies you always think of Twister (1996). A good example of disaster movie mixed with comedy, to make it friendly for all the family. I remember I became a big fan of that flick when I was a kid. But well, I must say Into the Storm is much much better.
The story is pretty basic, a group of tornado hunters are in a quest to find the biggest twister of their career. They have fancy equipment and lots of experience but they will face a nature monster for which they are not ready. Since the plot is so similar, it is impossible not to compare Into the Storm with mid 90s Twister. And when I say Into the Storm wins in part is because they leave aside cheesy drama or freaky technology to focus on science and the action of the events. The movie is one hour and half, and I can ensure you each one of those minutes are going to keep you glued to your seat. Although the plot can’t bring many surprises, the movie is pure action adventure.
And if we take a look at the background of Steven Quale, the director of this film, maybe you can see why. He’s been second director unit of James Cameron’s last adventures like Titanic, Avatar or the documentary Aliens of the Deep, and he had his premier into solo direction with the necessary-to-watch Final Destination 5. So you can imagine this man knows how to entertain the audience. For me, although he doesn’t have so many titles of his own, he is one of the names to follow.
The cast is also above correct, many solvent young faces mixed with a few veterans like Matt Walsh, this time changing comedy for action, or Sarah Wayne Callies, than if she is not running away from zombies in The Walking Dead she is chasing tornadoes.
To summarize, if you are craving adventure, action, disasters or just plain fun and entertainment, I think Into the Storm won’t disappoint you. It delivers as it promises, nothing more, nothing less, but it delivers it good. Really enjoyable.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2106361
