Movie Review: Into the Storm


Into the Storm was filmed in Michigan, so I was excited to see it - it looked a bit like Twister, except more extreme. The special effects in the movie were definitely fantastic, but the film lacks good dialogue, for the most part; it's a good thing that 90% of the movie is storms and storm-chasing, because that's where the film excels.

Donnie (Max Deacon) and his brother Trey (Nathan Kress) are filming a "time capsule" video prior to Silverton High School's commencement. Their father (Richard Armitage) is the vice principal of their school, and commencement is happening that day; however, it looks like some bad storms may be rolling in. Meanwhile, Pete (Matt Walsh) is a storm chaser, and he and his crew, including scientist Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies), have been trying to get footage of a great tornado for over a year now, so they start heading towards Silverton as well. These two stories will eventually converge, and the "bad storms" that hit the area are like nothing anyone has ever seen before.

For the most part, you won't recognize the cast in this film, except Callies is from The Walking Dead, Kress is from i-Carly, and a few of the other actors may be semi-recognizable. In this case, that doesn't matter, though, because the movie mostly focuses on the storms. Downtown Pontiac is recognizable in some of the scenes, but the movie is actually supposed to take place in Oklahoma - Tornado Alley - and Michigan was substituted for that, probably because of our film credit incentive plan.

Yes, see this movie, just know that it's a summer fluff film: you'll be highly entertained while watching it, but it's not one that will "stick with you" a day later. This movie would have been great in 3D, actually, because things were flying everywhere during the storms, but it was just as entertaining in 2D too (3D was not an option). There were definitely some plot holes - one character in particular kept showing up, and then disappearing, which was weird - but the film serves its purpose in that it will make you gasp and also fear for some of the characters, as they go through this hellish day of tornadoes in their community.

Into the Storm is in theaters today, August 8th, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 89 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.

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