If beings from another galaxy were to see \u201cInto the Storm\u201d they could come away with the impression that video recording devices make people extremely risky. For a lean ninety minutes this \u201cfound footage\u201d styled movie about a town besieged by tornados on a single day shows people taking huge risks to capture weather footage or perform insane stunts. Alien beings might skip Earth.<\/p>\n
As a summer blockbuster with scant story to cling to, \u201cInto the Storm\u201d somehow manages to hold up a mirror to our culture that is overly obsessed with videoing everything and what it may bring to their lives. Its like a SyFy channel B-movie without the ridiculous charms of animals and beasts fighting and wreaking havoc. The difference here is that the filmmakers have more money to work with and some very talented visual effects artists to flesh out the destruction that follows.<\/p>\n
\u201cInto the Storm\u201d follows three groups of people that eventually intersect \u2013 a documentary filmmaker following the storms hoping to capture footage that will educate, a high school AV Club student getting footage for a time capsule (his dad\u2019s the vice-principal) and two \u201cJackass\u201d wannabes that video over the top stunts believing it will make them famous. They all collide when a multitude of tornadoes touch down, combining comic relief with family drama.<\/p>\n
Its simple story (yes, it follows along the lines of \u201cTwister\u201d just with more characters) is augmented with a lot of disaster set-pieces that looks amazing. Coming close to being disaster porn, the PG-13 rated movie is more loud than gratuitous but scenes constantly work to put people in harm\u2019s way, like high school graduation continuing even as it\u2019s raining.<\/p>\n
But as big summer movies like \u201cThe Expendables 3\u2033 and \u201cSin City\u201d have quickly vanished from cinemas or dropped to minimal show times, \u201cInto the Storm\u201d has stuck around well after its release date in early August. Maybe simplicity is the key, and that its family drama about a strained relationship between father and son added to its appeal. Then again, maybe it\u2019s the enjoyment of watching stuff get tossed around and torn up because we know it\u2019s not real.<\/p>\n
\u201cInto the Storm\u201d stars familiar faces Richard Armitage (\u201cThe Hobbit\u201d) and Sarah Wayne Callies (\u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d) and directed by Steven Quayle, someone who knows his way around visual effects. Quayle worked on \u201cTitanic\u201d and \u201cAvatar\u201d and delivered a taut opening bridge collapse sequence for his directing debut \u201cFinal Destination 5.\u201d