New to digital download in the UK from 12th June is the adventure-drama, Supercell. The film – directed and co-written by Herbert James Winterstern – stars Skeet Ulrich, Daniel Diemer, Alec Baldwin, and the late Anne Heche, and tells the story of a teenager who runs away from home to follow in his father’s footsteps as a storm chaser.
In the movie, 16-year-old William Brody lives with his mother, Quinn, in their house in Florida. Ever since he was a young boy, William has had a fascination with the weather, which stems from his deceased father, legendary storm chaser, Bill Brody.
After William reads through an old journal of his father’s, which details aspects of his work, William sets off to Bill’s old stomping ground. This leads him to the home of Bill’s former friend and colleague, ‘Uncle’ Roy, who conducts storm tours in West Texas.
Joining Roy’s latest tour, William soon gets to experience a tornado first-hand. But is William interested in chasing storms, or is he really chasing after his father’s legacy?
Playing out like a ’90s family drama meets a Spielberg tale about father figures, Supercell is an interesting, if somewhat flawed movie, which tries hard, but falls a bit too short. It falls short, because for a movie about extreme weather, it fails to deliver any action and it moves too slowly.
Yet, despite this, Supercell isn’t bad. There are the bones of something here, all of the cast deliver solid performances, and with a bit more oomph it could be a great picture.
Supercell is director Herbert James Winterstern’s first full-length feature, and based on this film alone, I suspect he has a good career ahead of him. Winterstern clearly has the skills, and knows how to create the right mood, he just needs further opportunities to demonstrate what he has to offer.
So, while this movie doesn’t hit as well as it should do, the director makes a very impressive stab at it. Look beyond its limitations, and at what it wants to achieve and this is a decent start.
I suspect Supercell‘s shortcomings are largely due to financial constraints which stop it from delivering on its premise. Put simply: If there’s no money in the bank to showcase huge scenes of spectacle, or over-the-top action sequences, then you have to improvise where you can.
This improvisation means the movie has to lean more into the drama, and less into the action, and that’s basically what happens. It also has to imply something interesting or exciting is about to take place, even when it isn’t, to keep the audience invested.
Throughout the course of Supercell, this is achieved through the movie’s score, which does a great deal of the leg work. Composer Corey Wallace puts together a collection of music that John Williams would be proud of, and it helps to create the idea of action when there simply isn’t any.
Of course, there is some action in the movie, but it’s almost entirely reserved for a big set-piece during the climax. It’s nothing amazing, so it never feels like a big pay-off, but once again, the potential is clearly there.
If you’re looking at the poster, or any of the images in this review, and you’re thinking “this looks like a big-budget disaster movie, which will deliver the same sort of thrills and spills as ’90s classic, Twister”, you should think again. This isn’t that sort of movie, and at no point will your pulse quicken or your heart race.
Supercell is instead a more sedate affair, which uses the concept of extreme weather as its backdrop. The film concentrates its energy on a tale about a teenager who is grieving, and while it misses the mark, it sure aims in the right direction.
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