Sisu: Camino a la Venganza

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!

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.

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.

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.

First, I loved Sisu 2 for what it is. Pure absurd action entertainment.

Second, even the tiny plot, this second part can entertain as much as the first one.

Last, keeping in mind the budget, it is a great action movie. I give them credit for that. To add, I love they didn't abuse of CGI, some great old school tricks included here.

So, overall great entertainment with not great acting or story, but with tons of gory action and entertainment.