Supercell

Between the genuinely awe-inspiring storm effects and Corey Wallace’s rousing, old-fashioned score, “Supercell” feels like a cheaper but in some ways more heartfelt version of a ‘90s blockbuster.

The storm-chasing in this modestly budgeted feature never amps up the excitement the way it needs to. And the human drama (though well-intended) isn’t strong enough carry us through.

This movie is also about family -- the superstorm is just the tool to tell the story of a young man who sets out to learn more about his father but winds up understanding and appreciating his mom.

The epic melodramatic tone leaves the movie without nuance, which means that there's virtually no sense of realism in either the emotions or action. So while it's familiar and watchable, it's also contrived and sentimental.

Supercell winds up erring a bit too much on the side of caution.


When Baldwin and Heche pop up on screen, they clearly mark themselves as the professionals on set, which at least gives us something to lock onto for brief moments. Beyond that, Supercell is a trainwreck that I’m glad I caught up with.

It’s one of the better cheap Spielberg knockoffs and possibly worth looking at, but nothing anyone would ever want to trap themselves inside

A sub-Spielbergian effort about a young man struggling with the legacy of his storm-chasing father with the embattled Alec Baldwin and the late Anne Heche.

While it doesn't fully pay off, it is refreshing to see a filmmaker care so much about how the look and tone of some high-concept disaster movie function.

A shallow, bland and underwhelming B-movie.