Hollywood's Generous Response to Female-Led Blockbusters

In my view, "Twisters" and "Barbie" belong to the same category, representing Hollywood's recent generous response to the formula of female-led blockbusters, with a more substantial investment scale. This type of film has gradually branched out from traditional male-led popcorn movies, with the plot and presentation primarily serving female audiences.

The film creates a fictional world where tornado disasters are increasingly frequent. The protagonist, Kate, aspires to tame tornadoes (an interesting concept), and the story follows her five-year journey to achieve this goal. The narrative path is a typical inspirational film route (setting up an inner demon and several setbacks for the protagonist to overcome), without breaking new ground in storytelling. Technically, the film is mature, with the female lead being both stunningly beautiful and impressively strong. She ambitiously saves the world while effortlessly winning the hearts of several handsome men, diligently ticking all the boxes of traditional male-led blockbusters/Hollywood hero films, but with a gender reversal.

As a sequel to the 1996 hit film "Twister," tornado-themed movies are rare in disaster films, providing a fresh offering. In terms of audio-visual presentation, the film meets the standards of disaster movies, catering to male audiences as well – similar to how most Hollywood hero films cater to female audiences with fight scenes and visual effects.

However, the film's aesthetic level falls short compared to some of this year's top movies. For example, "Dune 2" internalizes the desert itself into its worldview with exceptional audio-visual efficiency; "Young Woman and the Sea" captures the vastness and peril of the ocean almost poetically, akin to a woman's heart; and "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" aesthetically integrates humans, vehicles, roads, and slaughter into a whole, with Anya's performance roaring both physically and metaphysically, ready to crush the audience like a giant motorcycle.

In contrast, the tornadoes in "Twisters" are treated as external spectacle props, akin to a more terrifying, larger version of Godzilla. The film lacks top-tier imaginative execution. The protagonist's initial submission to and eventual taming of the wind are stably portrayed but feel more procedural (like fixing a broken mega air conditioner), without generating a more stirring, complex chemistry that could provide a philosophical shock to the viewers. Interestingly, the male lead's relationship with the tornado manages to create some sparks (though superficially). Aesthetically, it leaves a bit of regret.

Overall, it's a qualified female-led blockbuster. Naturally, thinkers will raise many questions after watching: Is it a truly feminist film (or a counterfeit concocted by male directors and screenwriters)? Does the protagonist need to be that beautiful (will it trigger appearance anxiety)? Are there too many handsome men (should we be wary of romantic narratives)? These are for the audience to ponder. For me, the film wears a badge of service, aiming not to make you ponder but to be a loyal (or jester) to female audiences, offering ambition (or dreams). After watching it at night, it's easy to appreciate its merits, and I have no complaints.

This year's introduced blockbusters, whether "Twisters" or "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," have factually become followers of last year's "Barbie," which created a box office myth for female-led blockbusters. However, if you observe the film's marketing strategies, unlike "Barbie" that directly leveraged feminist themes (reaching more female audiences with a strong need for it), both films deliberately avoided the female theme label, packaging themselves as traditional Hollywood action/disaster blockbusters to attract both male and female audiences. This approach incurs a cost in reputation. The primary audience for such "traditional" Hollywood popcorn movies are often male viewers, who have long been pampered by numerous male-led blockbusters, making them reluctant and almost fragile to the idea of female-led films. Unlike most female audiences historically enduring male-led blockbusters, male viewers have yet to be trained to appreciate female-led blockbusters equally (though increasing the number of films like "Barbie" and "Twisters" annually might help). Therefore, their initial feedback often contains many low scores out of a sense of "being deceived." For instance, "Twisters" currently has a rating of 7.4, which is slightly low.

A small suggestion: for films essentially female-themed (especially those not promoted as such), consider adding about 0.5 points to their ratings to better reflect their actual quality.