Tornado Blends Samurai Honor with British Brutality in a Stormy Period Thriller - Review

Kōki and Tim Roth face off in a windswept showdown where the blade speaks louder than words.

Tornado Delivers a Windswept Clash of Cultures and Blades in the Moors

John Maclean' s Tornado blows onto the screen as a windswept, western-tinged samurai epic set against the harsh, mist-filled moors of 1790s Britain. It’s a setting rarely visited by action dramas of this kind, and Maclean uses every inch of it—rugged, wet, and unforgiving—to create a pressure-cooker of cultural clash and moral decay. This is a film where swords slice through fog, trauma lingers in the air, and honor and violence collide at every turn.

At the heart of the story is Tornado, a Japanese puppet performer turned reluctant heroine, played by rising star Kōki (Mitsuki Kimura). Daughter of traveling showman Fujin (Takehiro Hira), her quiet presence hides a storm of rage and resilience. When her troupe crosses paths with a violent gang led by the ruthless Sugarman (a chillingly weathered Tim Roth), secrets unravel, blood spills, and destiny ignites.

Roth brings gravitas to his villainous role, commanding the screen as a bandit king clinging to power through brute force. Jack Lowden, as his conflicted son “Little Sugar,” adds tension to the gang’s fragile alliance, making their unraveling feel inevitable and personal. Meanwhile, Kōki’s Tornado—though underused for much of the film—gets a third-act payoff that turns her into the whirlwind the title promises.

This is a dad movie through and through—in the best sense. Think: samurai films reimagined through the eyes of a British period piece and a dash of spaghetti western. The cinematography from Robbie Ryan is stunning, capturing the bleak beauty of the British marshes and the grit of 18th-century life. The practical effects and grounded fight choreography elevate the realism. The action is sparse but impactful, with a deliberate pace that builds dread rather than delivering wall-to-wall combat.

Still, Tornado is not without flaws. Kōki’s character often feels sidelined, her potential for vengeance delayed too long. Her eventual rise is satisfying but could have hit harder had we seen more of her fire earlier in the film. There’s also a missed opportunity in not expanding more on the unique clash of cultures between the British raiders and the samurai outcasts—there’s thematic richness here that remains untapped.

But the film’s commitment to its mood and atmosphere pays off. You’ll feel the muck under your boots, the cold in your bones, and the tension of watching lives unravel in a brutal, beautiful world. It’s a bold, genre-blending piece that asks what survival costs when tradition and violence collide.

Final Verdict: Tornado isn’t just a title—it’s a feeling. A slow-building storm of emotion, betrayal, and kinetic action that might just catch you off guard. A worthy entry into the samurai-western canon and one of the year’s more original period thrillers.

HMU Rating: 3.5/5

See it in theaters May 30.

Written and Directed by John Maclean

Story by John Maclean & Kate Leys

Starring Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Kōki