Sisu: Road to Revenge

So, Aatami is at it again. This time, he is going back to his old farm and fetching the house left behind the border after the peace treaty. However, the Soviet officials find out about this and send the man responsible for the death of Aatami's family after him.

So, at first I was a bit worried that we were going to be stuck in this beat up truck with Aatami through the whole movie. After all, if his motivation is to save his house from the Soviets, the whole thing is for nothing if he just ditches it. However, they do manage to work around that, which was a definite positive.

At times they kind of forget what the movie is about and they embrace the humor a bit too much. I was not a fan of that.

Of course, Jorma Tommila is pretty old at this point, so he has limitations on what he can do, but they work around that as well. Still, that does hinder the movie a bit.

On the positive side, they do make the limited (although massive by Finnish standards) budget work. You are not going to get bored. And they do step up from the first movie as well.

I even cried at the end, when the only lline of Finnish in the film is spoken. I don't know if anyone outside of Finland is going to quite get it, but it was just so indicative of Finnish sentimentality that it kind of broke me.

Having loved the first film I went to watch this in the cinema worried it wouldn't anywhere as good. How wrong was I?

It's every bit as good as the first one and two of the Sisu moments were so ridiculous they were simply EPIC.

Won't say much more about the actual plot and film as it's not needed just go into this with the love you had for the first one.

Roll on part 3 please.

Lots of over the top action? Yup. Blood? Yup. Vengeance is on the menu? Yup. Story? Well, kinda. 😂. But you don't go to see a dialogue heavy storyline. You aren't getting a a deep narrative. Guns, bombs, beheadings, and bombast. And I loved it! It's better than the first film and I really loved that film. I just wished it was about 20 minutes longer. All in all, go see it. It's a visceral film.

Ok, we can all agree many successful journeys-to-wherever narratives ratchet up the action sequences to crescendo into bigger, better, bloodier, and Sisu 2 is no different. You'll enjoy the passing of each chapter, just so long as you don't think too much about logistics or motivations. The largely dialogue-less screenplay benefits from zero zingers and relies on the emotive countenance and eyes. Grunts, groans and growls aside of course. In short, this is a good use of your movie viewing capital as it delivers a well-paced tale of loss, struggle, and sweet, sweet - and yes, very bloody (though not overly gruesome) - revenge.

The first Sisu was a huge surprise for me. I enjoy action films, but I don't usually connect with this rougher, hyper-stylised subgenre that lives off pure excess and endless brawling. Still, the original won me over with its balance between cartoonish violence, tight pacing and that lone-wolf Western attitude that made it stand out. And the funny thing is that, until recently, I didn't even know a sequel was being made. I went in blind, just hoping for the same madness as before.

The truth is that Sisu: Road to Revenge pushes that madness even further. So far, in fact, that it sometimes slips into almost cartoon-level absurdity. There are at least three scenes that cross that line: one involving a warplane, another with a tank and one where the character literally rides a missile. All moments that made me think "sometimes, less really is more". It doesn't ruin the experience, but it does take away that sense of brutal plausibility that the first film still managed to hold onto.

For anyone who likes unfiltered action, the film gives you everything it promises and then some. It's fists, bullets, chases and explosions from start to finish, without a single pause to breathe. The narrative is as simple as expected: we follow the protagonist played again by Jorma Tommila, now hunted by Soviet soldiers, one of whom carries a particularly cruel connection to his past. And honestly, that's all the story needed. Unlike franchises like John Wick, which kept expanding their mythology to the point of unnecessary complication, Sisu stays direct and focused. That straightforwardness is probably the main reason I've become a fan of this saga.

In the end, Road to Revenge is fun, visceral and fully aware of the kind of spectacle it wants to deliver, even when it goes beyond the limits of what makes sense. It's slightly weaker than the original because it loses some of the surprise factor and the restraint that made the first one so special, but as a cinema experience it's still a glorious little festival of chaos. I left satisfied, feeling it achieved exactly what it promised: pure entertainment.