Jakarta. “Twisters” is the latest American disaster movie to hit Indonesian cinemas, and as the title suggests, viewers should expect to see a lot of tornadoes on screen. The two-hour-long “Twisters” is quite far from being a cinematic disaster: it has just the right amount of tornadoes and great special effects, although the movie can get confusing sometimes with the scientific terms. But another thing that deserves a thumbs up is the storm-chasing cowboy Tyler Owens portrayed by Glen Powell.

“Twisters” -- directed by Lee Isaac Chung -- follows the story of a bunch of people trying to stop tornadoes. The movie is a standalone sequel to the 1996 blockbuster “Twister”. “Twisters” appears to be a movie meant for those who did not grow up watching the original, and I am one of them.

Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is our protagonist in “Twisters” -- a researcher who lost her friends in a tornado during her college days. Several years after the tragedy, Kate gets approached by her old pal Javi (Anthony Ramos) to test a new tracking system. She crosses paths with Tyler, the charming yet reckless social media personality and the leader of the storm-chasing group Tornado Wranglers. But as Oklahoma gets stormier, so does their journey.

Just like the in-movie fans for the Tornado Wranglers boss, I was captivated by Tyler. The cowboy --and his group-- are best known for their unconventional methods to get rid of the tornadoes. This includes shooting fireworks into the tornado. While I’m not familiar with whether this method actually works in real life, I wanted to see more of the Tornado Wranglers when I watched “Twisters”. Tyler is also not alone in his journey. He has a group of eccentrics tagging along with him -- a stark contrast to Javi-Kate’s humorless, more high-tech group. Frankly speaking, the movie was not as engaging before Tyler and the Tornado Wranglers showed up. 

Powell fits Tyler like a glove. His acting feels natural, although this does not mean the others are not doing a good job. But perhaps Powell is lucky that he gets the “more interesting” character. 

Like most disaster movies, “Twisters” tries to give the audience an adrenaline rush from fear with scenes of people either trying to stop the tornado or running for their lives. But the scene that kept my heart pumping the most was when a huge tornado struck Tyler-Kate’s rodeo date. Unlike the previous scenes, the two did not have their trucks and gadgets to tame the tornado. All they could do was just run, like everybody else. Speaking of tornado scenes, Kate’s final battle against the natural disaster was also intense. While it was no surprise that the protagonist Kate would save the day, this part kept me at the edge of my seat. 

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