I confess that I was initially interested in seeing this film primarily because of Richard Armitage. After observing him in the Hobbit films, the BBC show Robin Hood, the BBC show MI-5, and the BBC show The Vicar of Dibley, I was keen to see what he would do in this role which was rather different than his previous roles.
This film follows three small groups on a day in the town of Silverton OK when a series of storms spawn an unusual amount of unusually powerful tornadoes. The fact that all of the groups are carrying cameras actually makes sense for various reasons.
In the first group we have a father named Gary (played by Richard Armitage) and his two teenage sons. The oldest son Donnie (played by Max Deacon) is expected to film time capsules for the graduating seniors as well as the graduation ceremony. The younger son Trey (played by Nathan Kress) is enlisted by Donnie to help film the time capsules and the graduation ceremony after Donnie agrees to help his crush Kaitlyn (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey) to film a school project about pollution at a local abandoned factory.
In the second group we have a team of storm chasers that consists of the leader Pete (played by Matt Walsh), the meteorologist Allison (played by Sarah Wayne Callies), and the three cameramen Lucas (played by Lee Whittaker), Daryl (played by Arlen Escarpeta), and Jacob (played by Jeremy Sumpter). Jacob is the newest member of the team and has no experience filming storms. As such he is quite nervous and eager to please everyone especially Pete. Pete is in the process of filming a documentary that will show the inside of a tornado for the first time. Pete has commissioned a special tank-like vehicle to allow him to "safely" film inside of the tornado.
In the third group we have a couple of seemingly dim-witted thrill seeking friends Donk (played by Kyle Davis) and Reevis (played by Jon Reep) who are happily filming themselves doing stupid stunts when they observe the oncoming storms. Naturally they get the "brilliant" idea to film themselves as amateur storm chasers.
The second and third group vaguely interact as they are both filming the same storms. After a storm disrupts the graduation ceremony, Gary realizes that his son Donnie is missing. Trey quickly tells him where Donnie went and Gary takes Trey with him to retrieve Donnie. While Gary is on his way to Donnie, Gary and Trey cross paths with Pete's group. After having a near miss with another tornado, Gary continues on his way to rescue Donnie with the help of Pete's group. In the meantime the tornado has leveled the factory that Donnie and Kaitlyn were filming at so time is of the essence.
Will Gary get to Donnie in time to save him? Will they survive the repeated tornadoes that seem to be getting stronger and stronger each time?
There were some comparisons to Twister when this film was released. The only similarity that I could find between the two films is that they involve tornadoes and a scientist who wants to film a tornado to help predict them so that more deaths could be prevented. Otherwise these films are nothing alike.
It is refreshing to me to come across a found footage film that is not a horror film. I know that there are other non-horror/suspenseful found footage films out there but I haven't seen them yet. The imagery on screen isn't as dizzying as other found footage films. The story is good. The acting is good. I found this film enjoyable besides Richard Armitage being in it. The filmmakers, writers, and actors all did a very good job of bringing a measure of humanity to the characters that felt more natural than was expected.
I also found it to be a nice touch that the cast was unfortunately exposed to some elements like high winds as opposed to just harnesses and wires. I say unfortunately because it had to be uncomfortable. Still I appreciate that the cast was willing to go along with rigors of filming in this manner.
My only small nit pick to this film was the nondescript American accent that Richard Armitage and his sons used. Perhaps it is because the characters aren't supposed to be originally from Oklahoma but anyway.
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