Tornado is a new British period action drama that initially premiered in February at the Glasgow Film Festival, but premiered in theaters this past weekend. Written & directed by John Maclean, the film stars Kōki, Jock Lowden, Takehiro Hira, and Tim Roth. When her father’s puppet samurai shows gets ambushed by a notorious gang, Tornado vows to seek vengeance and force her own destiny by stealing their ill-gotten gold.

This film didn’t get onto my radar until I saw only one screening per day at my local theater. It’s always strange when that happens. It feels like the studio has an obligation to put it in theaters, but shows no promise of it doing well. Even with its weaker films, I still enjoy IFC films. They push out about as original content as A24, only it feels more indie and smaller budget. Between Jack Lowden & Tim Roth, and the positive reviews, I had to check it out for myself when the opportunity rose. As of right now, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me.

There is a strong movie here. I can see the vision. It just feels like the film is held back from so much due to what I am sure is a small budget. Typically when you have a small budget, it gives the filmmakers the opportunity to be more creative. Here, it feels like a borderline student project. The performances are great, but there is little to no characterization. The score is amongst one of the best of the year, but the stationary camera shots and cuts away from the violence holds it back from being even more threatening. The film has a promising & thrilling start, but the structure doesn’t justify why it’s needed.

The film’s strongest component is Kōki as the titular character Tornado. Films like this are the reason why I will always try to watch anything and everything. I truly believe Kōki’s career as an actress is going to skyrocket after this all thanks to what she puts into her character. In a film where there isn’t enough characterization, Kōki brings the character to life through her emotions and actions, making the most of what she can.

Seeing Tim Roth & Jack Lowden in a film together felt exciting, but the end result left me underwhelmed. They are both actors who are underrated in their craft. I personally don’t understand why Roth continues to be in small films like this. With the assumed small budget that I am thinking for this, I can’t even think he, nor Lowden, got paid much. It’s unfortunate too, because the film doesn’t do much with their characters. Roth is the leader of a gang, but never once comes across as menacing. Lowden proves to be a force against him, but you never quite see the purpose of this character. Take him out, you get a film much shorter than 90 minutes, so I guess it’s necessary to only add him to beef up the runtime.

Speaking of the runtime, I am glad it only runs at 90 minutes. I was already feeling tired when I started it and decided to stick it out due to how short it is. It is an easy watch that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome; however, it’s a film that deserves better. As the film throws you right into the situation, it’s easy to tune right in to see what’s going on. It only lasts so long as you start to lose interest as to what’s happening. It feels like they chose to do this to make it exciting. I’d argue that it wasn’t the right choice. When it cuts back to what happened, it doesn’t justify why this wasn’t needed. If something was more threatening in the beginning, then sure, I could see it, but that’s simply not the case here.

This year has been a strong year so far for film scores. You can easily add to the list. It is big & grand, and helps enhance the threatening nature of this world. The camera work feels very unsure of itself though. I often found myself struggling to understand the location at times. There are also some awkward close ups of faces. I would have liked to have seen the camera track these characters more versus just placing it in on stationary location. I think that could have also helped enhance the pacing. For an action film, I was also let down by how much the film cuts away from the action. It’s clear they were on a tight budget. I get it. You have to work with what you’ve got. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

The last thing I want to touch on here are the themes. For a revenge film, it’s pretty typical. Bad guys get what they deserve when someone is on a quest for vengeance. Where this one differs just a little bit is how Kōki’s performance conveys how someone so young shouldn’t do that. Everything that happens to her feels like it was all done for a reason to turn her into who she is. She just had her childhood taken from her. The overall resolution with the gang was underwhelming, but I did like how her story concludes, leading into more possible stories from the character.

Overall, Tornado works best with its lead performance from Kōki, the score, and some action scene. The small scope holds the film back from being something greater. It will do well with pushing Kōki’s career forward, but it’s probably something I won’t remember for too long.

VERDICT: 2.5/5 (Okay)