'Tornado' Review: A Decent if Ultimately Undercooked Stab of Samurai Shenanigans
- Jack Ransom
- Jun 15
- 2 min read
By Jack Ransom - June 15, 2025
With only a handful of mentions about this online, none of the plot details were known to me until the trailer appeared before a screening of Ballerina. I wasn’t the biggest fan of John Maclean’s previous (and only other) feature film Slow West, but the idea of a period set, samurai chase film starring Tim Roth in the villain certainly peaked my interest. Whilst the cinematography and atmosphere is fantastic, unfortunately the character-work, and plot substance does leave quite a lot to be desired.
What is 'Tornado' about?
Tornado sees a Japanese puppeteer's daughter (Kôki) gets caught up with criminals when their show crosses paths with a crime gang, led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) and his son Little Sugar (Jack Lowden).
Clocking in at just 90 minutes, the film certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome and keeps a consistently slow-burn yet engaging pace. The structure is a little clunky to begin with: opening midway through Tornado being pursued by Sugar’s gang, before flashing back to the events that led up to it, and then bringing us back to the present. Admittedly there is not a lot here to latch onto in terms of plot substance and you certainly will have seen similar films in the genre execute the material more engagingly, however the time period, melting pot of cultures and vast Scottish landscapes combine to craft an immersive atmosphere.
The cinematography is gorgeous and perfectly encapsulates the isolation and scale of the location. It’s almost otherworldly in its presentation, with the utilisation of natural light and shadows, fish-eye lenses and cinematic framing. The costumes, props and practical effects offer palpable authenticity (I particularly enjoyed the puppet show sequence) and the bursts of splattery gore in the final third are welcome. Unfortunately (despite what the marketing would have you believe), the action scenes aren't what I'd call “exhilarating”, it’s fine, but certainly doesn’t get the blood pumping.
Character-work is also fairly standard and really the performances carry the light screenplay. Kôki’s arc from fearful, desperate and angst-ridden to full on samurai warrior badass is well conveyed. Takehiro Hira brings a wise, stoic and calm presence and Tim Roth adds a foul mouthed, brutality and charisma to an admittedly one-note villain role.
Tornado is a decent if ultimately undercooked stab of samurai shenanigans. The atmosphere and tone are engrossing, the cinematography and score are superb and the sets and practical moments are well crafted. Despite solid performances, the characters aren’t particularly interesting and the action is far from palpably exciting.
'Tornado' is out now in cinemas
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