Summer Film Recap: Ashleigh Clark’s summer of sequels and adaptations.

By Ashleigh Clark

This summer was quite the summer for remakes, adaptations and sequels. Some were good; some were adequate; some were bad. In my summer review, I’d like to talk about an adaptation that soared above my expectations and a sequel that just barely met them. This is my review of “Fallout” and “Twisters.” 

“Fallout,” an Amazon Prime TV show based on the hit game series of the same name, is the next installment in successful video game adaptations. Riding on the high of “The Last of Us,” “Fallout” tells a similar narrative about humanity at the end of the world. However, instead of zombies, the world has been ravaged by nuclear war.

Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), one of the main characters, leaves the safety of her Vault (a radiation-free sanctuary) to search for her kidnapped father. In doing so, she’s enveloped in a larger quest for cold fusion energy. Tasked with transporting the severed head of a scientist, she encounters an unlikely friend named Maximus (Aaron Moten) and a ghoulish foe who seeks to break her spirit. 

Her plucky, naive understanding of the outside world is quickly shattered as she witnesses the horrors of the nuclear-stricken overworld. Dangerous creatures, violent cults, and raiders threaten her along the way. However, her most dangerous enemy is her own worldview. She stands by the “Golden Rule,” yet finds it bears no meaning in the Wasteland.

The “Fallout” TV show functionally asks the viewer to answer this question: How do we cope with unnaturally evil people and sickening violence? Yes, this show is incredibly violent. I’ll admit, I almost stopped watching because of the unapologetic evil in this show. People die gruesomely, humans experiment on other humans and (*gasp*) someone shoots a dog.

 never thought I’d like this Western-esque nuclear holocaust show as much as I did. The set design, CGI and costuming are outstanding and immersive. While the CGI is a little obvious in some scenes, most of it blends in seamlessly with the characters and helps to sell the horrifying creatures Lucy has to battle. 

Additionally, the showrunners use Lucy’s naivete to build suspense. Her daring optimism doesn’t get her very far and she falls victim to the pull of the Wasteland’s creed: survival of the fittest. 

Overall, “Fallout” earns a solid 9/10 for me.

As for “Twisters”, it fell short of the legacy of its predecessor. “Twisters” is a sequel movie based in the world of the 1996 film “Twister” (yes, the naming scheme does make it confusing). The main character, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones), must confront the trauma of losing her closest friends to a tornado while helping her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) test new tornado tracking technology in Oklahoma. 

Meanwhile, her rival (and heartthrob), Tyler Owens (Glen Powell) shakes up the storm-chasing community by live-streaming his daring chases on YouTube. With a massive storm on the horizon, Kate revives her dreams of using science to dissipate tornados. 

The movie pits Tyler and Javi against each other as two sides of the same coin. Javi turns to a less-than-honorable businessman to gain support for his project, thus tangling his morals and his dreams. On the other hand, Tyler’s rashness and competitiveness put him and his crew in danger multiple times. 

“Twisters” (2024) expertly builds suspense during the tornado rampage scenes. From cinematography to sound design, every part of the storm was designed to be as immersive as possible. I held my breath so many times while the characters tried to survive some of the most riveting storm special effects I’ve ever seen. 

Although the storm sequences heightened the tension, they couldn’t make up for the film’s lackluster script and underwhelming musical score. I was really hoping for more interesting music. Rather, the score consisted of country songs and soft piano riffs. 

My other criticism would be the science behind the tornado research. The storm science was more fiction than fact. Kate’s solution to defeating tornados is to release a super absorbent polymer into the air to absorb the moisture of a tornado, thus weakening it so it dissipates. Needless to say, her idea only exists in the vacuum of a film. Additionally, the “Dorothy” machine (a barrel of spherical sensors that get sucked up by a tornado and collect data) is beyond the realm of realism. This hampers the immersion of the film. 

I’d say the movie captures the essence of the first. “Twister” (1996) was reckless, gritty and lively. “Twisters” (2024) is lively but lacks the interpersonal camaraderie that made the original a cult classic. 

In conclusion, I give “Twisters” a 7/10.

“Fallout” is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and “Twisters” is currently playing in theaters.

Ashleigh Clark is a senior Political Science major. She loves hiking and playing video games with her fiancé. 

Images Courtesy of Amazon Prime Video and Universal Pictures