Review: Into The Storm (2014)

Into The Storm attempts to match up to brilliantly silly disaster films such as Twister and The Day After Tomorrow, but falls terribly short – its special effects not even enough to raise it up. The plot, if there is one, centres on a troop of storm chasers who, along with the many townspeople of Silverton, find themselves caught up in a terrifying, death-defying storm. The only problem is, everything within Into The Storm has been seen before – multiple times, in fact. There’s zero originality on display here, particularly within the script, which throws many different characters into the fold, none of which prove themselves worth caring about. That leaves the actors – Richard Armitage and Sarah Wayne Callies, included – to flail around, failing to improve proceedings no matter how hard their faces act. It’s much too long as well, and the pacing is all over the place. If there’s one element of the film that you’d like to think would be up to scratch, it’s the effects. But sadly, that’s not the case, and most of what’s seen looks like it’s been made on a worse budget than even Syfy original movies have. And the less said about director Steven Quale’s choice to make it found-footage, the better. Into The Storm is neither thrilling nor showy, it’s simply a waste of time.