‘Twisters’ director responds to complaints over movie ending
Sequels to beloved films aren’t often successes, but as it stands, the Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell-starring Twisters has been a triumph. However, some fans do have one major hang-up about the movie.
Directed by Lee Isaac Chung from a screenplay by The Revenant’s Mark L. Smith, which in turn is based on a story by Joseph Kosinski, the new flick is a standalone sequel to 1996’s beloved Twister. While the original movie boasted an ensemble cast, including the late Bill Paxton, Helen Hunt, and Cary Elwes, the new one has its own, starring Edgar-Jones, Powell, Anthony Ramos and more.
Twisters follows a group of storm chasers who attempt to launch barrels of sodium acrylate polymer into huge tornados to reduce their intensity and secure further funding from the government. In this contemporary twist on the original, Powell plays Tyler Owens, an internet star famous for chasing tornados.
After premiering in London on July 8th, Warner Bros Pictures released Twisters internationally on July 10th and later in the US on July 19th. Grossing $123 million against its $155 million budget so far, it seems the high-octane thriller will continue to be a success and perhaps, the biggest movie of the summer.
Despite the nail-biting action and story being a success, some have criticised the movie for Jones and Powell’s characters never sealing their clear attraction with a kiss at the end. This emerges amid notably strong chemistry between the two leads. Since the movie was released, leaked footage has also been released showing that a kiss was shot, but wasn’t used in the final cut.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Chung and his two stars addressed a kiss never occurring. “I feel like audiences are in a different place now in terms of wanting a kiss or not wanting a kiss,” the director said. “I actually tried the kiss, and it was very polarising — and it’s not because of their performance of the kiss.
He explained of his decision: “This [no-kiss shot] was the other option that I had filmed on the day, and I’ve got to say, I like it better. I think it’s a better ending. I think that people who want a kiss within it, they can probably assume that these guys will kiss someday. And maybe we can give them privacy for that. In a way, this ending is a means to make sure that we really wrap things up with it in a celebratory way.”
Edgar-Jones echoed Chung’s point, maintaining that no kiss meant that her character, Kate Carter’s story is about following dangerous tornados, not romance. This gives the film a different dimension from what people expected which the English actor found “refreshing.”
Chung concluded: “If it ends on the kiss, then it makes it seem as though that’s what Kate’s journey was all about, to end up with a kiss. But instead, it’s better that it ends with her being able to continue doing what she’s doing with a smile on her face.”
It’s not just the absent kiss that has annoyed some fans. The Twisters premiere was sabotaged by PETA over the controversial rodeo scene.
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