'Twisters' review: Rousing sequel that will blow you away

This image released by Universal Pictures shows a scene from "Twisters." (Universal Pictures via AP)

Tornadoes have been a subject of film fascination since The Wizard of Oz in 1939, but Dutch filmmaker Jan de Bont helped to solidify the appeal of the cinematic cyclone with his 1996 summer blockbuster Twister, about a group of adrenaline junkie storm chasers.

A new installment, Twisters, arrives 28 years after de Bont’s film, chasing away all those Sharknados that have cluttered up the tornado movie subgenre, and reminding us of what made Twister so appealing to begin with: it wasn’t necessarily the airborne fauna, but rather, the human dramas that play out as tornadoes roam across the landscape.