Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Into the Storm


RATING: C

Sigh. Found footage films. I usually try to stay away from them. Too much shaky-cam, too many "missing the actual action" cliches, and poor quality cameras overall (for the sake of being realistic, of course). But when I saw the trailer for this, I gave in. I could tell that this film was going to appeal to my special-effects-and-destruction-in-film-loving side. 

The very first scene of the film is probably a perfect example of what is wrong with found footage films more often than not. We have a few teenagers, one of them is filming the others, and then a storm starts forming behind them. He starts filming a little late, gets out, and then once the storm quickly reaches them, the guy starts shaking his camera as he runs back into the vehicle and then we don't really get any more footage as they are killed. 

Yup. That's a pretty dark way to begin a film. Oddly enough, though, considering that opening scene and that this is a disaster film, the body count is surprisingly low--at least among the major/minor characters, anyway (more on that later). 

And also, despite that opening scene, this isn't really even entirely a found footage film. It's a combination of regular-style filming and some HD found footage (you can tell when it's being shot from a camera because of jump-cuts or in some cases a little shaky-cam and other stuff). So much of what I was worried about in the first place hardly even happened after the first two minutes. 

Of course, the film doesn't have much in the way of story, but you don't tend to expect that in disaster films. But here's what they give us: we have a group of storm chasers led by an obsessed guy who's--well--obsessed with getting "the big shot." (Boy, did he get more than he bargained for.) And you have a widowed father (principal of the local high school) and his two sons who get caught up in the action (and the older son's high school crush). Oh yeah, and there's also a couple of twister-chasing hippies inserted for an attempt at comic relief. (It doesn't work.) 

So what brings these characters together? The storm of a lifetime. No, seriously, the storm of a lifetime. I'm talking what starts as a couple of isolated tornados evolving into a group of super cells of near apocalyptic proportions. We're given multiple tornadoes touching down within a town, a group of five touching down within eyesight at once, a firenado, and a gigantic whirlwind that almost feels more like a hurricane to a degree. 

And thus we are hurled into a exhilarating special effects fest where we watch various sights such as a neighborhood, school (empty), an airport, and a car lot getting torn up to bits. And we also get to watch as the various main characters demonstrate their amazing ability to hold onto things despite impossible odds (they must be big on Stickum), and witness the insane strength of a grappling hook in a storm drain. 

The film's hardly a masterpiece, of course. The first 20 minutes or so are kind of slow, and the characters (if they can be called that) aren't very interesting. And thus the 5-to-10 minute rescue sequence near the end that is devoid of twisters is shockingly boring. You have to wince about the reason for the kids filming the whole thing (for a time capsule? Really?). 

It's not for everybody. Those who aren't into disaster films or CG special effects festivals like this one aren't going to be interested, and there's nothing else that will attract really anyone to this film. But for its target audience, it's a pretty entertaining experience. There's something about watching a twister creep along and hit a fire and turn into an insane firenado that really cannot be explained until it is seen. 

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