Twisters

Oklahoma tourism takes a direct hit in Twisters, which depicts a state enduring practically a daily barrage of tornadic destruction.

Such exaggerations can be fun in an effects-driven thriller about climate change run amok that’s clearly not meant to be taken seriously. However, this sequel or remake or homage — it seems to be a little bit of each — to the 1996 Michael Crichton adaptation is not as compelling when the sun is shining.

The film opens with a harrowing sequence that accentuates the dangers and raises the personal stakes for Kate (Daisy-Edgar Jones), a college student on a storm-chasing team who suffers a tragedy that pushes her away from the field.

Years later, working in a weather office in New York, she’s lured back by former colleague Javi (Anthony Ramos), who’s eager to test his new technology to study and warn against tornadoes, but needs Kate’s expertise.

Back in Oklahoma, she finds storm chasing has become a cottage industry ruled by Tyler (Glen Powell), a brash social-media cowboy with a huge following. “Our crew is not like your crew,” he boasts. “We don’t need Ph.D.’s or fancy gadgets to chase tornadoes.”

As they bicker over credentials, they’re clearly drawn to one another, much to Javi’s eventual chagrin. But as the storms intensify in frequency and ferocity, they see value in teaming up, especially with an epic EF-5 barreling down on a small town with little warning.

The film’s most memorable character is its villain, of course, and Mother Nature is even more menacing this time around, thanks to three decades’ worth of technological advances since the first film, yielding some enhanced visual effects.

Meteorologists can nitpick the embellishments, but the storms look great on screen. As directed by Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), the film delivers some genuine thrills in its over-the-top finale.

Edgar-Jones (Where the Crawdads Sing) provides an emotional anchor amid the chaos and manages a breezy chemistry with Powell (Someone Like You). However, the rest of the characters in the screenplay by Mark L. Smith (The Boys in the Boat) are mostly a stereotypical batch of ambitious scientists and naïve thrill-seekers.

Like the furious funnels it dispenses at convenient intervals, Twisters ignores subtlety. Yet from a narrative standpoint, it adheres too closely to the forecast.

Rated PG-13, 122 minutes.