Vicious ‘Tornado’ kicks up a mighty deadly storm
You’d expect a samurai Western set in 18th-century Scotland to be quirky. But the dark, whirling “Tornado” takes it to the extreme, with characters who seem out of time, literally and figuratively. Blood? You bet! Character development? Not so much. Engaging? Well, that depends on your willingness to embrace the offbeat style of John Maclean, a writer-director favoring visuals over plot.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, with actors as charismatic as Tim Roth, and the force of nature known as Kōki as the titular heroine. It’s putting it mildly to say her Tornado is fierce, as comfortable wielding a longsword as she is in summoning the grit and defiance to take on a band of ruthless thieves who will stop at nothing to see her dead.
Last seen as young Miko in last year’s criminally ignored “Touch,” Kōki is an irresistible combination of serenity and fury capable of commanding your attention even when the film drags between bursts of brutal action. By design, Tornado is a young woman of few words, a quick thinker with an uncanny ability to anticipate and plot while maintaining that composed demeanor. She’s outnumbered roughly 10-1, but the odds are always in her favor because she’s been raised, somewhat grudgingly, in the samurai tradition of brains over brawn.
Her sensei is Fujin (Takehiro Hira), her de facto father and partner in puppeteering. Together, they travel through the 1790s Scottish Highlands, entertaining children with their moralistic plays that depict good thwarting evil. Never could they imagine their bits of theater becoming reality. But that’s what happens when they have the misfortune of crossing paths with Sugarman, Roth’s formidable leader of a not-so-merry band of highwaymen. Fresh off of pilfering two laden sacks of gold, they stop to catch the show, leaving their stash unattended.
Seizing a fortuitous opportunity, a feral young lad (Nathan Malone) plunders the loot from the plunderers, a brazen act Tornado witnesses on the sly. And when the show is over, like a protective mother, she quickly ushers the boy and his ill-gotten gains into Fujin’s wagon before the crooks get wise. From there, the stage is set for a highly lethal game of cat and mouse between Tornado and Sugarman, with the latter’s rebellious son, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden), proving a bit of an ally, albeit looking out more for himself than Tornado and the boy.
No one is immune from the chaos. It’s every man, woman and child for himself, as Maclean (“Slow West”) hammers home the point that – contrary to the Gordon Gekko doctrine – greed is never good. It’s often fatal, which Maclean demonstrates by way of an escalating body count. And death comes in the most inventive ways, via sword, pistol, dagger and arrow. Some of it is inflicted tongue-in-cheek with cartoonish savagery, but certain unfortunates meet an almost profound end, as humor and sorrow awkwardly mesh.
It all seems so pointless, not to mention predictable. Yet, you remain intrigued, largely because Roth and Kōki are so riveting, triggering your curiosity as to what life events led them here. But Maclean never lets on, which is frustrating. You long to know what lured Fujin and Tornado away from Japan, how they met, what drew them to puppetry and how Fujin learned the way of the samurai before channeling it through marionettes. And what of Sugarman and his strained relationship with Little Sugar? What caused the rift? And is Sugarman even aware it exists? Is this Maclean being coy, or is he placing the onus on us to fill in the blanks?
I suspect it’s the latter because ever since watching Tornado walk off into the sunset – in true samurai fashion – I’ve been doing just that, contemplating their backstories. But I’m also keen on the fact that restless viewers won’t be so receptive. Nor will folks offended by gratuitous violence, particularly when it’s visited upon innocents such as the traveling carnival troupe overseen by Joanne Whalley, whose Vienna is suspected of harboring Tornado.
Again, how does Tornado know about the caravan? Were she and Fujin once among the acts before striking out on their own? More questions, or more of Maclean challenging folks to invent scenarios? Questions upon questions! That’s “Tornado” in a nutshell. But it’s also a great deal more, if you’re willing to fully invest in its quasi-homage to the samurai credo of death with honor. For it’s not the fight that matters; it’s the principle and the dignity of the defender. And for Tornado, when it comes to blows, her resolve is as strong and mighty as a storm.
Movie review
Tornado
Rated: R for language and strong violence
Cast: Tim Roth, Kōki, Jack Lowden, Joanne Whalley, Nathan Malone and Takehiro Hira
Director: John Maclean
Writer: John Maclean
Runtime: 91 minutes
Where: In theaters May 30
Grade: B-
