Tornado

Loved it. A simple story set in 1790 that could have easily been ser in the 20th century because the bulk of the film takes place in a forest or the area surrounding a small lake. Other than the "1790" indicator, only the costumes made the time clear. This struck me as universally applicable. Many scenes throughout were emotionally strong and superbly acted. "Tornado", the main character's name, was compelling and intriguing. I was surprised by the way she talked, as something about it felt too modern to me. The cinematography was beautiful and the soundtrack fit perfectly. A small budget film showing a period of transformation in Tornado's life. In order to move my 8 rating to a 9 or 10, I'd have wanted to know more about the characters lives before the events of the film started and to have had deeper, more specific emotions shared between some characters. I'd see it again.

This was a fun film! And the art team was on it!!! Every color and prop was so perfect- literally down to the protagonist's red nose- Wes Anderson is gonna be jealoouussss. And a samurai, pulp, scottish hybrid?! What will they do next? I really hope to see this production team make another film. I mean I have to admit that the protagonist lost its substance really quick; a fart in the wind. Yet they got me back with the action. Very on the nose funny, blocky, power ranger-esque choreography. Great aesthetic and sound design; looking forward to seeing this unique style come back soon. But I expect more depth.

Tornado: Scotland, the 1790s. The feel of Folk Horror is here from the outset, a teen girl followed by a younger boy run across an upland heath, they are pursued by a band of rough looking men. Fleeing through the woods, the girl, Tornado (Koki), sees a remote mansion and hides there. The band of brigands led by Sugarman (Tim Roth) barges in and assaults the family. Tornado escapes but is separately chased after by :little sugar (Jack Lowden), Sugarman's son. There is more going on here than meets the eye. In a flashback we see Tornado reluctantly training in swordplay with her father, Fujin (Takehiro Hira)), a former samurai swordsman. Fujin now runs a puppet theatre with Tornado from his wagon. It is during a performance that they run afoul of Sugarman's gang, Tornado involves herself in robbing their loot. This results in a cascade of events starting with Fujin's death but also bringing death and destruction to others who aid Tornado. There is also a travelling circus involved, a strongman, players, a knife thrower, clowns. All on the same blasted heath. Life is cheap, Sugarman cuts the throat of a minion who has failed him, a man is stabbed for making noise. These were savage times, wagons burn, people flee for their lives into the woods. Tornado is a real Final Girl as she takes on the gang having more to avenge than just her father's death. Great displays of sword fights, archery, beheadings and arms lopped off. .All is not well within the gang either as they have their own turmoil. No magic, no monsters other than of the human variety but the differing skills of the gang members are a wonder to behold as is Tornado. There is an untold backstory as some of the characters have past knowledge of each other. Written and Directed by John Maclean. 8/10.

I was low-key looking forward to this movie when I first saw the trailer. An original samurai drama in European lands? Hell yeah! But in reality, this movie feels skeletal. The story is simple and promising, and it has its moments. But it lacks compelling characterization and the storytelling is kind of just boring. Certain plot beats just don't feel developed enough to be interesting, and things kind of just happen without much build up or clarity. It doesn't help that some scenes feel a bit illogical, making the characters seem either stupid or nonsensical.

Visually, this movie is fine. I love Tornado's costume design and the cinematography is decent. But I feel like the coloration is a bit dull and not all that interesting. The soundtrack overall is fine, but the more mellow songs are really good.

Tornado is such a missed opportunity, man. An original action-flick with an interesting backdrop and premise, let down by a story that feels unfinished and uninspired.

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.