I LOVE MOVIES THAT SCARE ME.
Into the Storm is essentially your normal disaster movie. It was basically Twister on steroids. By that, I mean the disaster is what makes the movie. Movie goers will care more about the disaster on the screen and the characters are really as lifeless and boring as you can possibly imagine. This movie is full of boring story-lines, wooden acting, and lame dialogue. BUT I LOVED IT. And not in a "holy hell this movie is incredible/Oscar worthy/the the best thing I've ever seen." It was more of a "my goodness this is so stupid it's hilarious" kinda enjoyment.
The story is filmed in a "found-footage" format much like Cloverfield, Chronicle, and The Blair Witch Project. At times, this format made me dizzy, but it also helped me feel like I was actually there. But mostly...I was dizzy. Taking place in the small town of Silverton, Oklahoma, the movie follows a number of flawed characters like an awkward boy who is in love with an out-of-reach hot chick, a dad who sucks at bonding with his kids, a single mom who cares more about storm chasing than her actual daughter (played annoyingly by Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori in The Walking Dead), a couple of redneck thrill seekers (easily the best parts of the movie), and a ridiculously storm-obsessed storm chaser dude who puts everyone's lives at risk just so he can get "that shot." Every single character has some sort of problem they are dealing with, which are ultimately resolved at the end of the crazy tornadoes they endure.
And oh boy are there tornadoes! Tornadoes everywhere! I think one of them was the size of the Superdome (they call it an F5 I learned...because of the updrafts...or something...).
In reality, the only story-line that I cared about was the storm-obsessed dude. His name was Pete and he was played fabulously boringly by Matt Walsh (known mostly for character acting in comedies). He and his crew drove a gigantic tank-like machine that was supposed to be tornado-proof. It was pretty cool-looking and the brunt of many jokes during the movie. My friend and I settled on dubbing it was a mix of the Batmobile, the shaggin-wagon from Dumb and Dumber, Auntie Em's house in the Wizard of Oz, and most importantly the Tardis from Doctor Who (due to it ACTUALLY being named Titus in the movie).
The worst part of the movie was definitely the character played by Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit) He had the dramatic and daunting task of portraying a vice-principal dad who has a hard time bonding with his two boys. I don't think his tone changed throughout the entire movie. His dialogue was horrid and the monotone was almost laughable. The following video is a good example of what it was like listening to his portions of the movie:
The movie wasn't all bad though. I was pretty impressed with the special effects. The tornadoes were SUPER RAD, especially the fire tornado. I also enjoyed the sharks flying out of the tornado (spoiler alert: there are no sharks in this movie). There were also definitely some scary visuals and moments. But for a movie that's supposed to make me terrified for the characters...it was pretty laughable and very poorly done. I shouldn't have been laughing as much as I was during the movie.
The characters were so bad that my friend and I were trying to figure out what their names were about halfway through the film. We had to refer to them by other names we know them as...like Lori from the Walking Dead, or that funny guy from Community...or Peter Pan. There was even a point where I was referring to the black guy as....well...the black guy (i.e. "Wait...where did the black guy go? Did he die?")
Overall, it was an enjoyable movie-going experience. I laughed, I didn't cry, I was slightly scared, and I will forget the movie tomorrow. Out of 10 stars, I would give it 4.. but I only give it 4 stars because of the entertaining rednecks and the Tardis.
Just go see it. Please? Have a good laugh.
I was really excited for the sharks, but then you spoiled it.
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