Into The Storm (2014) Review

                                         'That's the biggest Tornado I've ever seen.' 

Are we about to get an upgrade to a disaster movie for the Internet generation? Does Steven Quale’s Into The Storm deliver what its many trailers have promised? Starring Richard Armitage and Sarah Wayne Callies in the leading roles, the found footage disaster film aims to offer up an alternative for viewers who have got tired of the cheesy, clichéd devastation films of the past (or those who are looking for an alternative to Sharknado).

Armitage, fresh off the Hobbit trilogy set, stars as Gary Fuller, the Vice Principal of Silverton High School, whose son becomes trapped by a mysterious storm in an abandoned paper mill, forcing Gary to go rescue him. Meanwhile Wayne Callies stars as a Meteorologist, who works a storm chaser team, headed by Pete (Matt Walsh). With the town of Silverton, Oklahoma in jeopardy from the impending storm and colossal EF5 tornado, the question remains as to who will actually survive this devastating example of Mother Nature at its most brutal.

It seems almost a time-honoured tradition that movies which feature heavy amounts of special effects rarely succeed in pairing these visual feats with a coherent and intriguing storyline, and when the occasion arises that a film features both it is a somewhat surprising marvel to behold. Unfortunately, Steven Quale’s Into The Storm is not one of these marvels. Relying heavily on its CGI effects to distract you from the lack of a plot, the film tempts you with exciting sequences only to disappoint you after they end and you suddenly realise that the story hasn’t actually gone anywhere, and seems lost within its own internal storm.

A strong case of visual style over substance; as the film draws on the plot vastly unravels, and no sooner than the characters are introduced are they forgotten. The main failure of the film is its aversion to coherent and strong storylines, with many characters being introduced only to be killed off in bizarre manners; admittedly the visual effects are the films centrepiece and are treated as such. If you were to go into the cinema expecting to see trucks flying in the air, schools being ripped apart and general meaningless devastation then you may find a strange sense of enjoyment from watching this haphazard affair unfold on screen -  if however, you were expecting more then it’s safe to say you won’t find it anywhere amidst the rubble. A disappointingly pale imitation to Twister, Into The Storm is just not the disaster film we need or deserve, and although the visuals are impressive for its budget, if it was really attempting to go all out for high-tech special effects, it probably needed a larger budget (see: Michael Bay’s Transformers series).

Richard Armitage tries his best to save the piece (and the town), but even his best efforts can’t save this particular feature, which features some disastrous dialogue and half-hearted performances from its other cast members. The resulting effort of Into The Storm is relatively weak, but the better moments certainly come courtesy of the effects and the (fake) found footage style, these manage to make the film entirely watchable, and perhaps even possibly enjoyable for adrenaline junkies who want to be blown away by the visuals, and who can ignore the lack of progression in the (almost non-existent) story. Whilst Into The Storm will certainly not be to everyone’s taste, its visual flair manages to save it from ending up in the bargain bin come DVD release.