User reviews

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.

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.

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.

If you remember EVIL DEAD I and II (the Sam Raimi version obviosly); the first was pure and bloody horror but the second a remade in COMEDY mode. More or lss the same is SISU 2; a very violent movie but not as serious as the original; we a few dark comedy touches that some (not everybody) will find very funny.

This is less bloody/gory than the first one play more with explosions and some special effects.

Is never really boring (less than 90 minutes) and the action never stops; but is basically the same movie but not that serious.

This is a very Finnish take on the nostalgic action movie genre. Good action movies with a one-man army are absolutely silly but when they are good - like Sisu and Sisu2, they are convincing in their own reality.

Action scenes in the Soviet Union are so over the top but make sense in the context of the story. Extreme but not psychologically serious violence of this film honors the genre of action films from the 80's and 90's. And many of us grew with those films which makes this feel nostalgic; you feel safe on your seats even though everything is covered with blood unless it is exploding into million pieces.

Jorma Tommila is just fantastic as the main lead: not a single word is said by him throughout the movie but his performance is one of the best I have ever seen. I guess that I just love actors who are extremely physical and raw in a subtle and precise way. There was this Finnish cult-leader like professor in the national theater school in the 1980's named Jouko Turkka. I think he would have been very proud of his student's job as an avtion star at the age 60+.

There is a dog and a man. No words. Just one man's mission to save what he can save when everything is lost. The ending is beautiful. Tommi Korpela has a small part but he makes every word count in the catharctic moment.

I enjoyded this film a lot. My American-Australian husband loved this as well (and the first one too).

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.

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.

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.

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.

With a protagonist who simply cannot die, there's very little in the way of real jeopardy in Sisu: Road to Revenge; a white knuckle ride of edge-of-the-seat suspense this is not. What it is is an hour and a half of insanely violent action set-pieces full of gore and general lunacy, but very little in the way of plot. If you know this before going in, and are happy with that, then this sequel to the 2022 Finnish film Sisu should provide a bloody good time. With the emphasis on bloody.

The story goes like this: after the end of WWII, Russia takes control of Karelia, a region of Finland, displacing the population. Indestructible soldier Aatami (Jorma Tommila) drives his almost as indestructible truck across the border into the new Russian territory in order to dismantle the home he once shared with his now deceased family, with the intention of rebuilding the structure back in Finland. When the Russians realise that the man who killed over 300 of their soldiers during the war is now on Soviet turf, they send Yeagor Dragunov (Stephen Lang), the war criminal who murdered Aatami's wife and children, to deal with the situation.

Split into several chapters, Sisu: Road to Revenge doesn't concern itself with logic or obey the laws of physics: anything goes, the film resembling a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon at times. Like the roadrunner, Aatami escapes every trap laid for him by Dragunov and his men, albeit sustaining a little more damage than the cartoon bird ever did. There's plenty of shooting and explosions, a scene that feels like it has been plucked straight out of a Mad Max movie, an attack by Russian fighter planes, an extremely silly moment in which a tank does a 360 degree somersault through the air, and an ending involving a train propelled at high speed along the track by a Russian missile. Countless nameless Russian soldiers are riddled with bullets along the way.

Director Jalmari Helander handles the action well enough and keeps the film moving along at a decent pace, while star Tommila puts in a decent (dialogue-free) performance, with solid support from Lang and Richard Brake as the KGB agent who wants Aatami dead. And there's a cute dog as well. My rating is 6/10 - not as good as the first film, but still worth checking out.

. . . Finns are the toughest people in the world. SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE might as well be the title of a tribute picture immortalizing the renown "Flying Finn," Lasse Viren. During the first infamous Olympic terrorist attack In Munich, Germany on Sept. 3, 1972, some malingering miscreants originating far from Scandinavia's shores intentionally waylaid Viren during the 12th lap of the ten kilometer Olympic final. Knocked to the track's surface, the dazed Finn struggled to his feet--only to see the race pack swiftly pulling away from him in the far distance. The determined Finn not only managed to catch and surpass the fleeing forces of jackal jerks, but he won an Olympic gold medal with a world record clocking of 27:38.35! With Finns delivering peace time performances such as that, you can imagine what this SISU film has in store for its hordes of viewers.

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.

I watched an advanced screening of the Finnish film 🇫🇮 Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025) at the American Film Institute (AFI). The storyline follows Igor, who returns to his family home after the death of his wife and child. As he dismantles the home and plans to move on with his life, Russian forces make that transition anything but easy.

This picture is written and directed by Jalmari Helander (Rare Exports) and stars Stephen Lang (Don't Breathe), Richard Brake (31), and Jorma Tommila (Rare Exports).

I wanted to like this more, but it's the first Helander film I've ever rated this low. After a strong and promising start, it quickly turns into a Finnish superhero-style action film. I was fully engaged until the airplanes arrived-at that point the movie shifts into an over-the-top, adrenaline-fueled, Fast and Furious-style spectacle. The cinematography, camera angles, and overall visual execution are incredibly clean and stylish, and the film initially carries a Mad Max energy that shows real promise. There are standout moments-like the kitchen fight-and some excellent kills with strong gore effects. But the premise and direction ultimately become so exaggerated that the film loses the grounded power it seemed to be building toward.

In conclusion, Sisu: Road to Revenge is a stylish but overly bombastic action film that pushes far past its own potential. I would score this 3.5-4/10.

SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE (2025) *** Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, Richard Brake. Tommila returns in his iconic role as the silent yet deadly warrior turned farmer/WWII survivor who seeks vengeance upon the Russian officer (Lang in full villain mode) responsible for the travesties bested upon his family enduring the legacy of bloodshed and violence in full transition. Filmmaker Jalmari Helander sets up the action with unique skill and calculation that come across as Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner on acid with one increasingly cartoonish sequence after another with bruising brutality and drenched in blood by the gallons which will make the gorehounds pleased as punch.

Sisu: Road to Revenge: !946, has ceded the territory of Karelia to the Soviet Union as part of the peace treaty in the aftermath of World War II. Aatami Korpi enters the now Soviet territory where his family were murdered during the Russo-Finnish War, He dismantles his old family home, putting it on the back of a lorry, intending to rebuild it in Finland. The KGB release Igor Draganov, the man who killed his family, from a prison in Siberia to kill Korpi. We have a double revenge thriller (Draganov was imprisoned because his actions created a legend), with Draganov in pursuit of Korpi. Their first encounter results in Draganov's minions being shot, ser on fire and run over. Korpi lets Draganov live not knowing who he is. Things take a Mad Max flavour as Draganov summons up a motorcycle squad dressed in metal breastplates and welder style helmets, their assault on the lorry is repelled by Korpi just as Mad Max would. Heads rolling along the road, motorbikes exploding. Draganov runs over one of his men, stoically using the windscreen wipers to clean off the blood. Things get more dark , even the fine lline of dark humour doesn't quite leaven the scenes of extreme torture. Not a film for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is a great action film though, with Mad Max morphing into The Fast And The Furious road stunts. Some suspension of disbelief is required but it will be well rewarded. Korpi is the Finnish John Wicks. Written and Directed by Jalmari Helander. 8/10.

Sisu 2: Road to Revenge is the sequel to the first Sisu film from 2022. This follow-up is directed and written by Jalmari Helander, who also directed the first installment.

After the war, Finland is forced to cede territory to Russia, including the area where Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) lives. Aatami decides to take back his belongings, but by doing so he risks becoming a target of the Russian army, which is eager to take revenge on him after their last confrontation.

The Russians therefore send Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang) after Aatami, who, with his own army, tries to take him out before he can reach the Finnish border again.

This second Sisu film is once again an entertaining action movie. Aside from the fun action scenes, however, this sequel does not offer a particularly strong or unique story. Due to its events, the film sometimes feels reminiscent of other action films such as John Wick, Mad Max, or Top Gun. Compared to these titles, Sisu 2 lacks real character development, making it harder to empathize with Aatami beyond the fact that he's the hero fighting bad Soviet soldiers.

The film does, however, offer an interesting angle on the historical context of Finland having to cede land to the Soviet Union after World War II. A similar scenario now seems possible again in the war between Russia and Ukraine under the American peace plan.

Aside from the entertainment value of the action scenes, most of them remain predictable, allowing you to roughly guess what will happen. Not all explosions look entirely realistic either. Fortunately, the injuries that the characters sustain in the fights do look convincing.

Jorma Tommila performs well in the action scenes and feels almost like a Finnish John Wick, though with less background information, making it harder to truly connect with him. Stephen Lang makes for an enjoyable villain, although he mostly sends Russian pawns after Aatami while he watches from the sidelines-until the final confrontation.

'Sisu: Road to Revenge' is the somewhat-unexpected sequel to 2022's 'Sisu', the Finnish one-man war film, following Aatami (Tommila). This time, it's post-WWII, and he goes into the former-Finland part of the USSR to take the beams back to rebuild in Finland. The bad KGB guy (Brake) sends Dragunov (Lang) to kill Aatami - even though that didn't go well last time. That's pretty much the plot - and after a semi-peaceful first 10min, it's all action!

The only other character who has more than 2min screentime would be one of the pilots (Velberg), everyone else is pretty much there to make up the body count. Must've got to at least at least 100! It's a solid mix of 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Mad Max: Fury Road' and 'John Wick'. If you want inventive deaths and violence, with a bit of wry humour, this is for you.

Still amazing Aatami gets away without speaking at all. Lang is great as a bad guy (arguably worse than his 'Avatar' character). It has a nice foreboding score, and a rapid pace - all over in 90min - with the "chapters" to keep it moving. While not filmed in Russia or Finland, Estonia is a pretty solid double. Ridiculous ending, but what more can you expect?

He talks less than John wick but kicks just as much ass. It's outlandish in many ways and campy but it delivers exactly what is expected and does not try to be anything more. It's entertaining, it's funny at times, and brutal. If you liked the first Sisu then you'll enjoy this sequel just as much if not more.

Yeah there's a touch of my country's Mad Max seies in this one with the truck and bikes in it but only a little. It's its own mad thing. Just like the first its gory as and over the top but if you just go with it you're in for another wild ride. Mr Sisu of the long Finnish name is again unbeatable in it and Lang is a good victim. Enjoy it i did. His dog makes it too but you knew that.

Ok...No Oscar threat this but if you want to leave your brain at the Door and watch a One-Man Army dispatch evil Ruskie's ,(..instead of Evil Germans as in the First fillem..), in a myriad of cartoonishly gory, violent ways, then this ladies and genitalmen is most definitely for you. The 'One Man Army' trope has been done to death, over the years,(..and I must have seen, and enjoyed most of 'em..), but this feels very fresh, to me and our hero feels real as do his motivations,(..if you are empathetic and know anything of what our ancestors and neighbours abroad went through in WW1 and WW2, you will know that what the Russian Main Baddie was boasting of was merely the tip of an very bloody iceberg and is so beyond the comprehension of, I would guess, most modern audiences that they would have Nightmares if they were presented with all the evidence that could be shown to them..), and we can only cheer for him as he unleashes his righteous fury on heaps of hapless Russian Conscripts,(..who, in reality were just as brutalised as everyone else, at the time, thanks to the Demon Stalin's NKVD(..forerunner of the KGB..), and laugh, a lot, at the glorious, ridiculous ness of it all...and yes, I laughed loads, more than any comedy film I can remember because, when all said and done, this mostly resembles, to me, an Ultra-violent 'Wily Coyote and Roadrunner' cartoon, albeit with ,(..mucho!!..), extra Blood and Guts...I loved it and am hoping for a Trilogy...but only if theres any 'Baddies' left.... Glorious!!!!.

I was genuinely excited that Aatami's story continues. I loved the first film, and the moment it became clear there would be a follow-up, I was immediately interested. "Some men fear death, others walk straight to it." that's Aatami in a nutshell, once again.

Right from the start, this film feels bigger: higher budget, more scale, more impact. Bigger, better, bloodier.

What I really appreciated is that the narrative style from the first film remains intact. The chapter structure, the quiet intensity, the mythical way Aatami is framed, all of that returns. "Violence is a language and he speaks it fluently." Aatami is once again portrayed as more legend than man.

Stephen Lang as the antagonist was a real highlight for me. He's simply built to play men who feel dangerous the second they enter a frame. "They thought the legend was over. They were wrong." And that's exactly the vibe the film carries when Lang shows up.

As for the action: uncompromising, raw, and extremely entertaining. The brutality remains, the intensity rises and yes, the ending goes a bit over the top, but that fits this world and the tone completely.

"Pain is temporary, purpose isn't." That line captures the drive behind Aatami's journey.

Thematically, the film also stays consistent: "Revenge doesn't ask questions, it answers them." And the story follows that philosophy direct, brutal, and without hesitation.

If you loved the first film, this is a strong continuation. If you love 80s-inspired action films, even better. And for everyone else, this is a stylish, ruthless revenge trip that knows exactly what it wants to be.

The movie is still really entertaining, don't get me wrong. Jorma Tommila is just as phenomenal as he was in the first movie, and brings his A game. He's able to convey so much emotion without saying a word.

Where the movie lost me a little though is how absurd some parts were. The first movie had absurdity too, but it still felt at least somewhat grounded. In this movie, it felt like they were trying to harness some Mission Impossible with some of the set pieces. I found that less compelling. I also felt like the main character was dumbed down a little bit. In the first movie he's incredibly intelligent and cunning, and while he makes mistakes he feels like this unstoppable force of nature. Here, he makes a lot of really questionable decisions, and doesn't really feel as "scary" as he did in the first movie.

I seem to be in the minority though, and even with those complaints, the movie was still really entertaining. There's some really fun action scenes, and it's a tight 90 minutes that doesn't drag. I think it's at least worth a watch!

After the war, a man returns to his village, now part of the Soviet Union, to retrieve what remains of his family, their home. What was supposed to be a quick in-and-out job turns into a fight for survival and opportunity for revenge.

This sequel is a rough watch. It makes less sense than the first one, despite having some sort of story. The action is wild, over-the-top, far-fetched, and extremely gory. With limited dialogue, the story gets to the point quickly. The one hour and twenty-eight minute runtime is perfect for this mindless, bloody revenge story. There are better ways to spend this time than watching this movie.