Sisu 2

If you liked the first one, you'll like this one

If you LOVED the first SISU, YOU'LL FU*%IN LOVE THIS ONE

Picking up a couple of years after the event of the first movie, SISU ROAD TO REVENGE is once again written & Directed by Jalmari Helander and starring Jorma Tommila ad our stoic, silent, Atami (AKA THE IMMORTAL)

As with the first movie, this one opens with a bit of a history lesson about the Finnish & Soviet border in the aftermath of World War 2

Many families were displaced and had to leave the homes after the border redrawing and our heron, Atami, decides to head back to his family home so he can literally, reclaim it, transport the house beam by beam and rebuild it where is.

All is well that is until big bad Stephen Lang shows up and for (reasons) that I won't go into for fear of spoilers, and, off we go.

That pretty much covers the Plot of SISU 2 Road to REVENGE.

Its is not a plot heavy movie, its not overly complicated, but that is one of its strengths.

This is tight, streamlined, no fat svely 90 mins long, just like the first one (actually its 3 mins shorter than first one

(note to studios, its OK for movies to be 90 mins if that's all the story calls for!)

Like the first one, this movie is split up into chapters, (6 or 7 of them iirc) AND as with the first one, our lead Atami is a man of few words.

Like the runtime, having our hero remain silent is one of this movies strengths

Its a great example of show don't tell. There's no inner monologue, our protagonist doesn't feel the need to explain everything he's doing as he's doing it. He just does it, and the filmmakers show us what we need to see so we can get what's happening.

WE DO NOT NEED THIS '2nd SCREEN' STYLE STORYTELLING

Looking at you NETFLIX!

Jorma Tommila is BRILLANT again. It's a very physical role, its down and dirty, I cant imagine not was an easy shoot for him, but he absolutely commands the screen for 90 mins without saying a single word. He is BRILLIANT.

Stephen Lang is great too, absolutely chewing the scenery and hamming it up with thick accent (but I mean that as a compliment as thats exactly whats needed for the villain in a movie like this)

Cinematography wise, Its got a slightly more polished look than the first, still got that golden hue but its a little more subtle this time, more organic (that kinds makes sense when you compare the motivations og Gold in the first movie, and literally, wood in this one)

That actually also makes the character motivations in this one a little more, wholesome and less capitalistic.

In the first one, he was fighting for gold. In this one, he's fighting for the building blocks of his family's home

It's maybe not a fair comparison as I saw this one the cinema, whereas I saw the forst one at home. It was a rare blind buy for me as I'd heward good things about it was a damn fine looking steelbook, so I'm glad I got it.

It might be a pulpy, ultra violent, B-Movie inspired revenge flick, but its a VERY GOOD pulpy, ultra violent, B-Movie inspired revenge flick

John Wick meets Mad Max Fury Road (with a dash of Die Hard and a sprinkling of Snowpiercer).

Its gloriously violent (I'm surprised its just a 15 here in the UK and not an 18)

As I said in the opening, If you liked, the first SISU, you'll like this one.

If you LOVED the first SISU, YOU'LL FU*%IN LOVE THIS ONE

8/10 for SISU ROAD TO REVENGE

The director is apparantly gonna be helming the next Rambo Movie which is a prequel. On the one hand, when I heard the news they were making a Rambo Prequel I was a bit like, urgh. BUT, now that I know the SISU director is calling the shots, and its made by AGBO, The Russo Brothers studio.

As Leo said, now you have my attention.

That's us folks, I'll catch you in the next one.

This was an insane trip from beginning to the end. It blew the first one outta the water on every front. The action, way better. The villain, way more menacing. This movie actually was emotional and made me feel things, especially the end. Effects we're also great. While the story is what it is like with Sisu 1, I think this just has more. Simple but done well.

This is easily the best action flick Finland has made but I think it might be my favorite ever. The action is that good, with some of the most creative kills I've seen.

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.

Sisu: Road to Revenge is basically a live action rendition of Looney Tunes with plenty of over the top laughs and slapstick worthy kills throughout. It's a bigger, more personal and absurd sequel that knows exactly what it is and executes it efficiently from the moment it starts. Dialogue is generally kept to a minimum, allowing the story to be mostly communicated visually which continues to be extremely satisfying.

Jorma Tommila is once again a man of few words who brings an unwavering determination and steely resilience as he really gets put through hell and back. There's enough context given at the start to understand why he's doing this which keeps it emotionally investing enough. Stephen Lang is perfectly cast as a ruthless villain with no morals so his inevitable comeuppance can land the way it should.

Jalmari Helander's direction delivers another slick yet simultaneously dirty looking film that isn't afraid to get pretty brutal when it comes to its main character's suffering and his writing has an effectively simple structure. The score by Juri Seppä & Tuomas Wäinölä is suitably rousing and Mika Orasmaa's cleanly shot cinematography ensures nothing is missed in most of the action sequences.

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.