Into the Storm touches down in theaters this week, and may hold its own against Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for the no. 2 spot at least.
When a small Oklahoma town finds itself in the path of freak super tornadoes (what, no sharks?), citizens’ lives turn upside down — putting it mildly — including those of a father and his two boys, storm chasers making a documentary, and two bumpkins looking for Internet fame.
With the spate of sci-fi/fantasy and superhero fare we have been experiencing the last few years, it’s refreshing to see a normal disaster flick, not to mention one that experiments with handheld found-footage and POV.
Characters are treated with a documentary realism that has them sit down for interviews or record video logs, giving their names, dates, and locations. And many sequences are footage seen through the lens of a television camera or cell phone video – such as when the film opens on a group of teens killed in their car, almost stalked, by a small storm.
Inventiveness aside, plenty holds the film down, particularly petty and narrow characters – two hicks (Last Comic Standing winner Jon Reep and Kyle Davis) seeking YouTube stardom, whose comic relief falls flat; and the main filmmaker, Pete (Matt Walsh), who cares more about finishing his film than the danger they’re all in. His crew takes unnecessary risks too: one dies in a fiery tornado after standing too close to get a shot, with a camera that obviously has a zoom lens.
Walking Dead vet Sarah Wayne Callies is the only voice of reason among them, filling a role similar to Helen Hunt’s in Twister, as a driven scientist who fights to get people to listen.
TV spots try to dovetail off her arc and make Into the Storm the next Day After Tomorrow or 2012, but any environmental subtext gets lost amid the various subplots and apocalyptic setups.
The film treads rockier territory when it attempts to show us its conscience in the second half. Callies admonishes Pete for caring more about capturing and protecting footage at great cost to his crew (someone forgot what kind of movie they were making). Like 2007’s The Condemned – a violent film decrying violence – Into the Storm risks coming off as preachy because of business like that.
It may be a no-brainer and inconsistent at times, but the film moves at a steady clip, and possesses genuinely breathtaking cinematography and thrills. Worth seeing in theaters or at home.
Trivia: filmed in Michigan – at Oakland University no less – though set in Oklahoma. Look for Chuck Gaidica and Steve Garagiola cameos on TV (wrong state but whatever).
