Tornado is set in a bleak version of Britain in the 1790s. On a rugged, isolated Scottish moor, Tornado (Koki) tours with her father’s travelling samurai puppet show. Tornado carries out an opportunistic crime of stealing two bags of gold belonging to a gang of ruthless criminals led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his ambitious son, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden).
There is an initially confusing time shift about 20 minutes in, but otherwise John Maclean’s movie is a straight forward chase and revenge thriller. Koki is excellent both as a frightened girl on the run and a samurai hell bent on vengeance. Lowden is a little too clean cut to be convincing but Roth’s sheer magnetism makes him an incredibly scary, swaggering, villain.
It is also a good looking film, despite a small budget, thanks to it being shot by the great Robbie Ryan and it has a nicely ominous score by Jed Kurzel.
Not quite the sum of its parts though, as it takes a while to get going, and follows a predictable path. However, Tornado’s killing spree is very entertaining with some nicely gory, and in one instance, very funny, deaths.
Rating: 7 out of 10