Into the Storm Review

Rated PG-13 (Sequences of Intense Destruction and Peril, and Language including Some Sexual References)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 29 Minutes

Cast-

Richard Armitage-Gary Morris

Sarah Wayne Callies-Allison Stone

Matt Walsh-Pete Moore

Max Deacon-Donnie Morris

Nathan Kress-Trey Morris

Alycia Debnam Carey-Kaitlyn

Arlen Escarpeta-Daryl

Jeremy Sumpter-Jacob

Lee Whittaker-Lucas

Kyle Davis-Donk

Jon Reep-Reevis

Scott Lawrence-Principal Thomas Walker

David Drumm-Chester

Brandon Ruiter-Todd White

Directed by Steven Quale

"I guess this is the part where we kiss?"

Note: Screened on Thursday, July 10, 2014 at Regal E-Walk Stadium 13.

Weather-based disaster flicks have become something of a joke thanks to "Sharknado." Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante, this low-budget B-movie aired last summer on the Syfy Channel and revolves around a group of people—led by D-list celebrities Ian Ziering and Tara Reid—trying to survive…well, a bunch of vicious, man-eating sharks that are swept up into the air by a series of tornadoes caused by a freak hurricane. The premise obviously makes no freakin' sense at all but the film's inherent ridiculousness (this coming from a television channel that frequently airs crazy schlock-fests like "Sharktopus" and "Dinocroc vs. Supergator") took social media—specifically Twitter—by storm and led to a sequel being announced barely a week after the first one aired. The cheekily titled "Sharknado 2: The Second One" debuted on July 30, 2014 on the Syfy Channel like the original, ironically nine days before another weather-based disaster film, Steven Quale's "Into the Storm," was set to be released into theaters. Before being supplanted by superheroes, the disaster genre used to be a summer movie staple with films like "Independence Day," "Armageddon," "The Perfect Storm," and " The Day After Tomorrow" making millions of dollars at the box office. Remember Jan de Bont's "Twister"? It was one of the biggest hits of 1996 and had a prime May release date. Eighteen years later, the similarly-themed "Into the Storm" is being dumped into theaters in August with little fanfare. So is Quale's film as bad as critics have made it out to be? As a disaster film, "Into the Storm" is a runaway success with its visceral effects-work but the film is unfortunately let down by a paper-thin story and cardboard characters.

Veteran documentarian Pete Moore (Matt Walsh), workaholic meteorologist Allison Stone (Sarah Wayne Callies), and camara operators Daryl (Arlen Escarpeta), Jacob (Jeremy Sumpter) and Lucas (Lee Whittaker) have been working all year round trying to capture some exclusive tornado footage but their trip has unfortunately failed to yield any results. After missing a deadly tornado that claimed the lives of four teenagers in Northern Oklahoma, a visibly frustrated Pete gives Allison—who's been tracking storm activity in the area—one last chance to make it right. She suggests heading to the small rural town of Silverton, which appears to be a dead end at first when the storm cell they've been chasing dissipates. However, it suddenly strengthens, with a convergence of tornadoes eventually forming into a colossal EF5 tornado. Caught in the devastation is seventeen-year-old AV geek Donnie (Max Deacon), who ends up being trapped in a collapsed paper mill while helping his high school crush Kaitlyn (Alycia Debnam Carey) with her school project. Donnie's father, high school Vice Principal Gary Morris (Richard Armitage), desperately searches for his son with younger teenage son Trey (Nathan Kress). The two crosses paths with Pete's storm team and together they try to locate Donnie as Mother Nature lays waste to Silverton.

"So do you prefer zombies or tornadoes, Sarah?"

Steven Quale's "Into the Storm" may not feature any sharknados but it has plenty of other 'nados, namely carnadoes, planenadoes, and—wait for it—flamenadoes! Yes, you read that right as a tornado destroys a gas station at one point and sucks up all the flames from the resulting explosion, transforming itself into a fiery whirling dervish of death. From a purely technical standpoint, the film is nothing short of amazing, with Quale, who made his feature debut with 2011's "Final Destination 5," doing a fantastic job in capturing Mother Nature's indiscriminate wrath despite being saddled with an unnecessary found-footage conceit (the various money shots are just too cleanly framed to have come from the characters themselves). When the gargantuan EF5 hits during the film's final act, one character rushes into the Titus—an armor-plated, tank-like storm chasing vehicle—to secure a drainage grate and protect the rest of the group but the tornado proves to be too strong as it soon lifts the vehicle up into the 'eye' of the storm high above the clouds. This moment of calm weightlessness is by far the film's most memorable scene. In terms of spectacle, "Into the Storm" delivers.

"It's only a tornado, keep filming, son!"

Unfortunately, the characters have to go do something stupid like open their mouths. They're a largely forgettable bunch, with John Swetnam's screenplay insisting on giving each one a capital-B Backstory. High school Vice Principal Gary Morris is a widower and is emotionally distant from his two teenage sons, Donnie and Trey. Meteorologist Allison Stone is a single mother who greatly misses her young daughter. Pete is a hard-ass who only cares about getting the money shot, to the detriment of his crew's personal safety, and so on and so forth. The cast—led by Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield from Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" trilogy) and Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes from AMC's "The Walking Dead")—do the best they can with the material but the script's characterization is just so by-the-numbers and serves no other purpose than to pad out the running time while the audience twiddles their thumbs for the next big tornado to arrive. Once the tornadoes do hit, the cast become little more than props to be thrown around by on-set wind machines. As if the film's idiot index wasn't high enough, we're saddled with two drunken rednecks named Donk and Reevis (seriously, that is their names) who run around chasing storms and destroying our brain cells with their incessant hollering.

Released on August 8, 2014, "Into the Storm" has received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics wrote that it was 'clumsily scripted…populated with forgettable characters, [and] has little to offer beyond its admittedly thrilling special effects.' While it didn't exactly flop, the film's $17.3 million weekend debut wasn't anything to write home about either. Still, it'll likely break even given the production budget was only $50 million. The best way to summarize "Into the Storm" is that it could've been a lot worse (like "Sharknado"). There's not much of a story and the characters are thinner than paper but you'll get your money's worth if you adjust your expectations accordingly.

Final Rating: 2.5 out of 5

"I've studied storms all my life. This one is bigger than any storm that has ever been."