Into the Storm 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: What we've got here is somewhere between Twister and one of those storm-chaser reality shows, except Jan de Bont made Twister. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: The found-footage disaster flick "Into the Storm'' is "Twister'' for dummies, but by no means is that an insult. The new film is enormous fun if you're in the right mood. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: What's remarkable about this long-belated and low-rent knockoff ... is the velocity of its cheerful idiocy, the blithe vacuity of its narrative downtime between tornado touchdowns. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It's been 18 years since "Twister," which means it's high time for another tornado movie, right? Be careful what you wish for. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: The storm clouds exhibit more gravitas than the humans in this feature-length VFX demo reel that makes one pine for the glory days of Jan de Bont. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: If the protagonists were swapped out for another group of people, Into The Storm would remain more or less unchanged, the only differences being cosmetic. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Into the Storm" plays like a special-effects demonstration in search of a movie, but you have to give it to the filmmakers: They take no half-measures. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Into the Storm" features laughable dialogue, far-fetched situations, and generic characters played by actors who almost look like more famous stars. I still had a blast; and if you lower your resistance, you may too. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: The characters are all automatons and the story is streamlined past the point of any emotional resonance, the better for viewers to enjoy the large-scale destruction. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: A good deal of screenwriter John Swetnam's dialogue sounds like auto-corrected exposition, designed to reveal nothing in the way of character. Read more

Sean Fitz-Gerald, Denver Post: A visually stunning disaster-thriller that ultimately feels cheap with its perverse take on death and gratitude. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: As disaster movies go, "Into the Storm" is fairly disastrous itself. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Don't get me wrong, I'm as willing to check my brain at the door and sumbit to an idiotic late-summer spectacle as the next person. But this funnel-cloud fiasco tries to suck up everything in its path, and just winds up sucking. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: This film exploits horrendous, real-world suffering for the sake of a mindless thrill ride, and no matter how well executed the havoc may be, that leaves a sour aftertaste. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: It's no spoiler to reveal that these tornadoes just happen to be the biggest storms that ever were, and watching them chew up buildings like they were so many corn bread muffins can't help but be involving. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "Sharknado" without the jokes. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: If you're willing to treat the stiff dialogue and uneven performances as so much light drizzle, it's easy enough to get caught up in the action. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: The notion that we should worry about human beings - even poor Matt Walsh, heroically staying deadpan as lead storm chaser - becomes a source of humor in what is otherwise a showcase for extreme weather. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: This must be the only disaster movie in which presumably intelligent characters decide to hide from a storm in a storm drain. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: Into the Storm has some seriously impressive, wicked special effects. Its rapid pace and thundering sound effects quite effectively ram you, wide-eyed, jaw agape, against your seat back. It has nothing else. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The destruction and carnage is presented with verve and flair, making this a fine example of tornado porn. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: A more sophisticated version of "Sharknado." Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "Into the Storm" runs a brisk 89 minutes, and for every second of its running time finds ways to make tornadoes interesting. Read more

Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Into the Storm" quickly spirals downward into a vortex of vapidity. Read more

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Not all of it makes sense, but for disaster movie fans, "Into the Storm" has enough destruction to go around. Read more

John Semley, Globe and Mail: It's all very, very silly - not to mention off-puttingly earnest. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: If weak plotting isn't a big concern, then Into the Storm may be right up your tornado alley. Read more

James Rocchi, TheWrap: At the climax of "Into the Storm," colossal tornadoes make noise, blow things up, and go around in circles; that's pretty much all the film does, too. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: When the badass cyclones muscle into town, ripping up schools, banks and airports, the film is fairly fun. Sadly, everything else about it is, well, a bit of a disaster. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The special effects are skillfully wrought, scary and exciting. But when the story focuses on those weathering the onslaught, things are far less thrilling. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Have we ever before seen such big-ticket escapist entertainment about the awesomeness of something that so recently killed so many of us? Doesn't it usually take longer before everyone's eager for candy spun from trauma? Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Why is it that Hollywood finds it so hard to create a compelling story around weather disasters? Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: "Into the Storm" consists mainly of watching characters run from various little tornadoes before they have to take cover from a very large one. Read more