A Japanese puppeteer’s daughter gets caught up with criminals when their show crosses paths with a crime gang, led by Sugarman and his son Little Sugar.

It’s been a few years since former ‘The Beta Band’ and ‘The Aliens’ band member John Maclean made his directorial debut with ‘Slow West’, an excellent western that starred Kodi Smit-McPhee and Michael Fassbender. 10 years later he’s back with his second feature in ‘Tornado’, this time set in his native Scotland, substituting the American West for the not altogether different harshness of the Scottish highlands in the late 1700s (OK, the weather is much worse here!). Taking the form of a revenge thriller, it centres on a young Japanese woman (Tornado, played by model Kōki) who is fleeing from a criminal gang led by Sugarman, portrayed with glee by Tim Roth.

Beginning with a flash forward, it shows Tornado running away from Sugarman and his gang, hiding out in a grand mansion, before we go back to the start and find out the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ that will power the story. Tim Roth, who is no stranger to playing a villain in these parts and these times after ‘Rob Roy’ is deliciously evil, while Jack Lowden is more menacing than we’re used to seeing him as his son. The rest of the gang is made up of well cast character actors who look the part in 1700s Scotland, including ‘Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann. The plot, of what there is, is relatively thin, and acts more as a framework for action sequences and violent deaths, but Maclean’s focus is more on mood and tone than on narrative. I didn’t mind it, but if it was a longer movie than 90 minutes, I could see it outstaying its welcome.

‘Tornado’ is an entertaining Scottish western with a very enjoyable Tim Roth performance, a cracking score from Jed Kurzel and some nonchalant violence smattered in – I thought it was good fun.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: John Maclean

Starring: Kōki, Jack Lowden, Takehiro Hira, Joanne Whalley, Rory McCann, Ian Hanmore, Alex Macqueen and Tim Roth

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt27721490/