I remember loving it for the same reasons you did! I tried finding reviews of the movie, but of course they're all talking about "Twisters" (which I have not yet seen), so. I'm not really sure what the criticism was.

But I do think it might be a little "sweet" for people who want more "rocks falls, everyone dies" disaster films. On the other hand, I've seen a handful of disaster films (if not that many) and a lot of them often still have a similar storyline, where someone is in the middle of a reconciliation while disaster strikes, etc. There's just often a little more blood and gore, and less found family. I don't know.