Tornado: Film Review
I never expected to see a Western and a samurai movie set in the Scottish Highlands but here we are! Slow West director John Maclean has taken his love of the Western genre and brought it to his home country, with added samurais for good measure.
Tornado, set in 1790, follows the title character (Kiko), a Japanese woman who works with her father Fujin (Takehiro Hira) in a travelling samurai puppet show. She has to defend herself against a gang of highwaymen led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden) when their bags of gold are stolen.
Tornado launches us straight into the action, with the gang chasing after Tornado and a little boy. Scared for her life, she hides in a mansion and then finds refuge with her friends in the travelling circus. This opening is gripping and exciting. You aren’t given any context so you have no idea who anyone is and why she is being chased.
Equally, the final act is terrific and where it truly becomes a samurai movie. It is violent, brutal and satisfying and establishes Kiko as a star and one to watch. This is the film I expected it to be, but you only get it for about 15 minutes.
I really struggled with the chunky middle section though. Once it flashes back to explain why Tornado is being chased, the pace really slows down. There is minimal dialogue and very little characterisation to hold onto. The action in the beginning and end masks this but it’s very exposed here. I was not engaged and found myself tuning in and out during this section. Thankfully, my focus completely returned once we got into full samurai mode.
Tornado has a lot of potential and it delivers in the beginning and end, but the middle is too slow and dull, despite strong performances from Roth, Lowden and Kiko.
In cinemas from Friday 13th June