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Irish Times
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Tornado review: A singular, if rarely easy, watch about double-crossing rogues on the rampage
Tornado Director : John Maclean Cert : None Genre : Drama Starring : Tim Roth, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Joanne Whalley, Koki Running Time : 1 hr 31 mins In Tornado the film-maker John Maclean returns to the austere storytelling that defined Slow West , his well-regarded debut, from 2015. Set in a rugged and unnamed corner of 18th-century Scotland, the film follows the taciturn young circus performer of the title and her father as they are drawn into a deadly pursuit. Despite the ambiguous period setting, the McGuffin is familiar: an opportunistic theft, a misplaced bag of swag, and double-crossing rogues on the rampage. The heroine, played by the Japanese actor and musician Koki, is a stoic teenager with a talent for swordplay and a complicated, sulky relationship with her dad, Fujin (Takehiro Hira), a warrior turned puppet master. Their life on the road, performing morality puppet plays with a touch of Punch and Judy ultraviolence, takes a dark turn when a local scallywag absconds with two bags of stolen gold during one of their shows. The theft attracts the attention of Sugarman, a grizzled, ruthless outlaw (Tim Roth at his meanest) with a small gang of thugs in tow, including his disgruntled son, Little Sugar (Jack Lowden). As Sugarman's group pursues Tornado across misty moors and abandoned villages, the muted action unfolds less as a traditional revenge plot and more as a meditation on end-of-days degeneracy. For all the genre signifiers, Maclean's confusing, fragmented structure, contemplative pillow shots and dour tone leave little room for the playful high-jinks of Kill Bill or Samurai Jack. READ MORE Which year did Marty not visit? 1885 1955 2015 2055 What was Clint Eastwood's first film as director? The Outlaw Josey Wales Play Misty for Me Firefox Bird Who is not a sibling? Macaulay Kieran Rory Benji The actor playing the title character of which film was actually born in the US? Klute (1971) The Mask (1994) Dudley Do-Right (1999) Green Lantern (2011) What is the last Pixar film to win the best animated feature Oscar? Soul Onward Coco Inside Out Which is the odd period out? Ms Weld Dan Aykroyd in Dragnet Ms Squibb Christina Ricci in The Addams Family Who was not portrayed by Steph? Ally Lee Patrizia Breathless Which is the odd one out? Harrison Ford's other profession 2024 Palme d'Or winner Todd Haynes's notorious early short Halloween and Escape from New York Who is about to succeed, among many, many others, James Whale, Terence Fisher and Kenneth Branagh? Guillermo del Toro Ari Aster David Lowery Robert Eggers Whose daughter fought the Triffids? Alison Steadman Thora Hird Patricia Routledge Margaret Rutherford Robbie Ryan, who was also the cinematographer on The Favourite and Poor Things, leans into the script's sense of dread. Through his lens the bleak Scottish landscape becomes a grey antagonist that threatens to drown everyone in apocalyptic rain. The characters, accordingly, often appear small and helpless against the remote hills. Up close, however, the handsome costume and production design are frequently too anachronistic to engage. Even the title feels as if it belongs to a different film. Tornado will frustrate the giblets out of anyone seeking narrative momentum or emotional catharsis. But viewers willing to sit with its stark silences and oppressive atmospherics can look forward to a singular, if rarely easy, watch. In cinemas from Friday, June 13th
Spectator
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Darkly comic samurai spaghetti western: Tornado reviewed
Tornado is a samurai spaghetti western starring Tim Roth, Jack Lowden and Takehiro Hira (among others). Samurai spaghetti westerns aren't anything new. In fact, we wouldn't have spaghetti westerns if it weren't for the samurai genre – Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars (1964) was, as Clint Eastwood conceded, an 'obvious rip-off'* of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) – yet this may be the first one set in 1790 and filmed in Scotland. It may also be the first one to feature thick woollens and tweed. That makes it sound twee which it isn't. It's a super-bloody revenge story filmed in just 25 days with a running time of 90 minutes. We love a 90-minute film, so I feel bad saying this, but it does feel as if it needed more time to cook. It comes flying out the gate flying, opening mid-chase with an adolescent girl (played by Koki, a famous Japanese singer-songwriter and model) running from the gang of outlaws who are on her trail. The outlaws are led by Sugarman (Roth) who would slit your throat at the drop of a hat. (The endless violence is darkly comic; expect chopped off limbs and geysers of spurting blood.) He has a resentful son, Little Sugar (Lowden), while the other woollen- and tweed-clad gang members have Guy Ritchie-esque names like Kitten (Rory McCann) or Squid Lips (Jack Morris). This is the sort of film Tom Hardy should be in but isn't. The gang pursue the girl through the forest into a mansion where she hides. What has she done? Questions are answered with a jump back in time to events earlier that day. (It turns out the opening 20 minutes come from the middle section of the story. We're doing middle, back, then forwards. I think chronological storytelling may well be over. I blame Christopher Nolan). The Japanese girl is not the Japanese girl with no name. She is called Tornado, and she and her father (Hira) are travelling puppeteers with a marionette act that stages samurai combat. It's an impoverished existence, not to her liking. She is bored and resists her father's attempt to teach her Japanese culture, honour and sword skills. Teenagers: when have they ever realised how boring they are? She wants a way out so when she crosses paths with Sugarman's gang she steals their bag of gold. She is not given to making good decisions, this wee lassie. She runs; they chase, and if you are awaiting a big twist, it doesn't come. It is light on story as well as dialogue. Thankfully, characters arrive fully formed in the hands of actors like Roth. Joanne Whalley pops up at one point and even though she only has two or three lines max, her character is fully formed. Koki, meanwhile, delivers a strong performance but Tornado may well be underwritten. Why is she so oblivious to the rising body count caused by her actions? Come the final act, which effectively turns into a superhero origins story, it turns out that she was listening to her father all along. We are meant to be rooting for her but I'm not sure I ever was. I wanted a lot more Kitten, as well as a conflict that wasn't solved by lopping someone's arm off. That said, the film is assured. It has a terrific soundtrack by Jed Kurzel, which is all pounding percussion and jagged strings with hints of Morricone, while the cinematography by Robbie Ryan delivers a beautiful yet bleak landscape beset by shimmering lochs. * When Fistful of Dollars was released Kurosawa wrote to Leone: 'It is a very fine film but it is my film… you must pay me.' He was awarded 15 per cent of all revenue.
New York Times
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Tornado' Review: She Wants Revenge
This crackling movie begins with what some might take for a bit of misdirection: a quotation from a poem by Arseny Tarkovsky, the father of the great filmmaker Andrei. 'I would readily pay with my life / For a safe place with constant warmth / Were it not that life's flying needle / Leads me on through the world like a thread.' Given that the movie concerns Tornado, a young swordswoman who has to make her way through a hostile British countryside after wastrels kill her father, one might wonder what Tarkovsky has to do with it. But first consider the statement rather than its origin. Tornado (Koki) has been touring with her samurai father (Takehiro Hira) through rural England, performing a charming puppet show. An initially prankish bit of business involving two sacks of stolen gold gets the duo in big trouble with a pack of thieves led by Sugarman (Tim Roth). The writer-director John Maclean, who deftly played with genre in his 2015 feature debut 'Slow West,' is similarly sure-handed here. The movie quickly establishes itself as a revenge narrative, and each bad guy goes down in a way designed to suit the viewer's justified bloodlust. In the title role, the singer-songwriter Koki is both charming and indomitable; when she announces 'I am Tornado,' you feel your internal applause sign light up. And Nathan Malone, who plays the little boy following Tornado as she eludes the bad guys, is reminiscent of the nervy star of Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Ivan's Childhood.'
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Asian Film Awards Rising Star Winner Koki Talks Global Film Career Path, International Co-Productions
Japanese actor Koki is swiftly building an international profile that spans continents and genres, from dual roles in a Japanese horror film to sword fighting in 18th-century Britain. The model-turned-musician-turned-actor recently added the Asian Film Awards Rising Star Award to her growing resume, marking her first recognition outside her home country as she prepares to announce a new project based in Hong Kong. More from Variety Lee Kang-sheng Sets Two More Installments of Tsai Ming-liang's 'Walker' Series (EXCLUSIVE) Neo Sora Talks Political Divide in 'Happyend': 'Japan Hasn't Really Reflected on its Colonial Past' 'Perfect Days' Star Yakusho Koji to Receive Asian Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Honor - Global Bulletin 'It means so much to be able to receive an award outside Japan,' Koki tells Variety. 'The Rising Star Award gives me so much courage and recognition. I feel like I want to do my all my best to be able to go up to the award.' The daughter of Japanese entertainment royalty — her father is megastar Takuya Kimura ('Grand Maison Paris') and her mother is singer Kudo Shizuka — Koki has been carving her own path since showing musical talent at age seven, composing hit songs for her mother and singer Miura Daichi, before making her model debut at 15 on the cover of Elle Jappan. While successful in both music and fashion, Koki expresses her deep commitment to acting. 'I feel really privileged and lucky to be able to do something that I'm truly passionate about, and acting is one of them. It's something I'm truly in love with.' Koki made her acting debut in 2022 with Shimizu Takashi's horror film 'Ox Head Village,' where she played dual roles, earning Japan's Blue Ribbon Award for best newcomer. 'It was my first movie, and I learned everything from scratch. I felt really lucky that I got to experience two characters at one time because I felt like I was able to learn twice as much.' She has since starred in Baltasar Kormakur's 'Touch,' an international co-production between Iceland and the U.K. where a Reykjavik restaurateur closes shop just as his memory begins to falter. But when a message from a long-lost love from his student days in 1960s London, lands out of nowhere, he is thrust into a past that never let go. As COVID-19 lockdowns loom, he embarks on a journey spanning London and Japan, chasing the truth behind her abrupt disappearance decades earlier, even as time – and the virus – conspire against him. The film is based on Olaf Olafsson's novel. 'I loved how the two different cultures and even three, like English and Japanese and Icelandic, really blended into each other,' Koki says. 'I really loved how pure and strong the story was, and I feel like nowadays it's hard, in a way, to find a very powerful love story. And I loved how Miko, the main character, she has a very complex personality, but I love how she's really strong and really delicate in the same time. So that really drew me into the story.' Koki more recently took on her first action role in John Maclean's British film 'Tornado,' set in 18th-century Britain. 'It was physically really difficult,' says Koki of her sword-fighting scenes, 'but I learned that sword fighting is not only physical, but also mental. It really helped me become a strong person.' The film, which follows a young Japanese woman who finds herself in peril when her father's traveling puppet show crosses paths with a criminal gang, premiered as the opening gala at the Glasgow Film Festival in February. Koki is also starring in the upcoming Japanese film 'True Beauty,' an adaptation of the popular South Korean webtoon. In this role, she portrays a high school student who transforms from an insecure 'ugly duckling' into a confident young woman after being bullied for her appearance. The actor acknowledges the fan pressure of adapting such beloved material. 'There is a really big pressure. I mean, in high school, I was one of them, and I loved the manga, and I was reading the webtoon,' she says. 'There is a huge pressure to be able to go up to the standards of the fans. But I really personally loved the story, and I loved the characters inside. So I felt like I really wanted to challenge myself, and it was my first time doing comedy as well, like comedy, love, romance.' When asked about her next project, Koki says: 'There will be an announcement in a few days, but I'll be working on a very special project in Hong Kong.' The 18th Asian Film Awards ceremony takes place March 16, at the Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Oscars 2026: First Blind Predictions Including Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, 'Wicked: For Good' and More What's Coming to Disney+ in March 2025
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Takuya Kimura's daughter Koki to be honoured with AFA Rising Star Award
21 Feb - This year's Asian Film Awards (AFA) Rising Star Awards has found its star in Koki, the daughter of Japanese celebrity couple Takuya Kimura and Shizuka Kudo. The model-turned-songwriter, who has written hit songs for her mother as well as singer Miura Daichi, made her model debut at 15 years of age, becoming a fashion icon and ambassadors of many international brands at a very young age. She then made her turn into acting, starting with "Ox-Head Village" in 2022, where she won Japan's Blue Ribbon Award for Best Newcomer. This was followed by "Touch", "Tornado", and the two-parter "True Beauty", the latter to be released this year. "I feel extremely privileged and humbled to receive this recognition and the Rising Star Award. Being honoured outside Japan at such a prestigious event means so much to me. I sincerely thank the Asian Film Awards from the bottom of my heart," she said. It is noted that the AFA Rising Star Awards had previously honoured stars like Park Seo-joon, Jelly Lin Yun, and also Thai heartthrob Win Metawin. Koki, real name Mitsuki Kimura, will be accepting the award at the 18th Asian Film Awards, to be held on 18 March. (Photo Source: Koki IG)
