Into The Storm (2014)

I was going to say this is definitely the best storm movie I've ever seen, but then I realized I've barely seen any other storm movies. The actors aren't any that I recognize, but they're amazing, the whole movie is amazing, and apart from the storms and the surreal sceneries that accompany them, the mounds of emotion they display is part of it's gargantuan grandeur.

At times it's hard to see what's real and what's not. The effects are surreal. The destruction is real. A tree falling over the road right behind the characters as they're desperately trying to reach a shelter, or a large gas tank ramming a background school bus with such force it leaves a dent straight across the side, from top to bottom... all of these things seem so real I wonder if maybe they really are.

Are those tornadoes real? Is the mayhem and wreckage that's left behind real? What's digitally manufactured for this movie, and what's actual tornado footage? How much did it cost to make? How dangerous was it really for everyone involved? This is really one of few movies where you can sense the dangers, when you can't decisively say the CGI is definitely fake. For the huge panorama views, where planes, cars and barns alike are dust particles to the wind, it's definitely special effects... right? That firenado, that is definitely special effects... right? The firenado was pretty intense.

New Line Cinema sums up the plot quite nicely:

In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

You might argue that the script is this movies greatest weakness, but it didn't bother me one bit. Critics seem to, while giving the movie high scores, complain about the unlikeliness of a jumbo jet airport in a small town, the cliche of a small town* and the predictable plot. Plot predictability... yepp, I get that, but for everything else: why bother with the details? Immerse yourself in those astounding winds of time! Draft away on wings of uncertainty and incredible tension! Great watch.

 rated 4/5: fo shizzle

* I hadn't seen or heard of Twister before reading reviews for this movie. Since it is the one movie on which apparently all prejudice is based, I will definitely do so for comparison! And because if there is anything even half as awesome as this movie... I want to see it.