Tornado

This is experimental cinema... a hodgepodge of various genres and styles based entirely on the imagination of the creator ... nothing wrong with that. In the 1960s, for example, the brilliant Sergio Leone accidentally created an entirely new class of film which HAD NEVER EXISTED BEFORE -- the "Italian western." Not merely a financial success -- it turned a failed, out-of-work, actor named Clint Eastwood into a Hollywood icon. Does lightening strike twice? Not here, it doesn't. Sorry. The rating is for technical merit only. The film itself will put you to sleep. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Being a fan of Slow West, I was really looking forward to this movie. You can tell right away it is the same director as Slow West, John Maclean. His style is a very subtle, cool, relaxing form. Unfortunately, it means not really a good fit for a thriller.

The movie is almost same as Slow West in the element, a slow burn with a big finish. Unfortunately unlike Slow West, the ending was somewhat anti-climatic. This is very disappointing as the rest of the film, the story, was actually quite intriguing and keeps you engaged but the ending didn't quite satisfy.

Overall, I thought this is an average film, watch it once, you probably won't think about it again. The ending leaves many questions, but then you realize it is a western, it's not suppose to have a realistic ending.

5/10.

I liked it. Soundtrack was wonderful. Cinematography beautiful. Costume design appropriate. Settings were sparse but it's the scottish wilderness. I loved the blending of Scottish rural peasantry and samurai perspective. The bad guys were suitably despicable, life cheap and honorable choices, few but meaningful. I liked the evolution of the main character, her initial wooden behavior totally appropriate to a naive teen, protected by her father. If your looking for choreographed fight scenes and explosions this is not for you. If you want something to kill a boring Sunday afternoon while you scroll your phone, out of luck. Would watch the sequel in a heartbeat.

On paper, Tornado has everything going for it-an intriguing concept, a strong cast (including Koki, Tim Roth, and Jack Lowden), and a visually striking trailer that promised a bold fusion of samurai and Western genres. But in execution, the film doesn't deliver on its potential.

As with some Wes Anderson films, Tornado feels more like a fable than a grounded story but without inviting the audience from the beginning to suspend disbelief and accept stylisation over realism and lacks the emotional depth or imaginative clarity to fully pull this off. Combined with a theatrical tone that echoes Quentin Tarantino-particularly in its monologues and character staging-the film hovers awkwardly between stylised myth and serious drama, without fully committing to either.

The result is disorienting: pacing feels both slow and rushed, the world-building is vague, and the narrative often leaps forward without enough context. Viewers are left grappling with plot holes and underdeveloped motivations, which breaks immersion.

Most surprisingly-given its dual heritage in samurai and Western genres-the film features almost no action. There's no dramatic showdown, no cathartic swordfight, no "duel at dawn" moment to anchor the stakes. The final act, while atmospheric, lacks the payoff many expect from stories built on vengeance.

To be honest, I was really quite disappointed with this. It all centres around the search for some stolen gold that has been re-stolen and hidden by "Tornado", the partner in a father/daughter Japanese puppetry show that is touring the shires of late 18th century Britain. The gold was originally acquired by "Sugar" (Tim Roth) and his gang but as they stopped to watch the show, it was re-acquired by an opportunist urchin (Nathan Malone) whilst he was being watched by "Tornado" (Kôki). When the gang discover it's missing, all hell breaks loose and so she hides the loot and the boy in their wagon and off they go. It doesn't take long for the men to put two and two together and they set after the slow-moving visitors and a rather dishonourable encounter ensues. Meantime, "Little Sugar" (Jack Lowden) is tired of taking orders from his old man and has plans of his own to secure the cash - and that's bound to lead to a conflict with his no-nonsense father. So now we have a brute chasing his money, a son looking for change and a samurai-trained woman out for revenge. It has the ingredients of a good adventure. Sadly, though, she is just not a very convincing actor, there is far too much meandering around the countryside setting and re-setting the scenario and there is a real paucity of pace here. It can't have had an huge budget, but that needn't have mattered if the the story had taken a little longer to develop a little more depth to the characters. It's all too episodic and though it does mix the timelines a little to break up the narrative, there are too many characters who appear then add little before we move on. It does create an overall sense of a fairly poverty-stricken and lawless rural life, but once we hit the home straight it all just takes a predictable path to it's conclusion. Nobody is really used to full effect here and though the bleakness is conveyed well enough, the story doesn't really deliver.