Sisu - Uma História de Determinação

Sisu is about a gold miner who finds the richest of golds in an underground pit. He must trade the gold for cash to a bank. Although, he lives thousands of miles away from a bank and must travel on foot. On the way there, he encounters German Nazis along the way who want to steal it from him. He must fight throughout all of them in order to deposit his gold.

The first impressions of Sisu gave me that it was a bloody, fun, and good time of a gold miner killing Nazis. Since John Wick was heavily inspired by director, Jalmari Helander, that this movie is basically the German 1940's war version of John Wick. Jorma Tommila's (main protagonist) acting skills were badass from his creative surviving skills to kill the Nazis. The deaths were entertaining with the special effects and CGI of them. Overall, Sisu is good with its acting, kills, and story. I would recommend Sisu in theaters for a good action watch.

Who doesn't enjoy seeing evil Nazi's beaten to a pulp, torn limb from limb, and generally getting what they deserve? (Answer: other Nazis). Director Jalmari Helander dedicates Sisu to the art of killing goose-stepping fascists, pitting the despicable jack-booted Germans against Aatami (Jorma Tommila), a hard-as-nails Finnish commando who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'. After Aatami strikes gold in the wilds of Finland, he makes his way back to civilisation to cash in his hoard, but crosses paths with a Nazi platoon - and we all know that Nazis like to steal gold!!

However, trying to take Aatami's treasure proves to be a big mistake: no matter what the German's do to him, he simply won't give up until he has gold back and every last Nazi is dead. The fact that the Finnish soldier is so indestructible takes some swallowing, until it becomes clear that his nickname - The Immortal - is to be taken at face value: this bloke has more lives than a cat. Once you wrap your head around the fact that Aatami simply does not die, the film becomes all the more fun, as the enemy come to realise that taking an immortal's hard-earned riches is an even dumber move than nicking a leprechaun's pot of gold.

In terms of style, the film is very Tarantino-esque, split into 6 chapters, each introduced with a big bold title; the violence is graphic, with lots of blood and guts. There's even a group of female Finnish POWs who lend Aatami a hand in killing the baddies -- and there's nowt more Tarantino than a gang of women unloading machine guns into a truck of Nazis. The ending takes the craziness up to eleven as the nastiest Nazi, Bruno (Aksel Hennie), makes his escape on a plane, unaware the Aatami has hitched a ride. The action ends with a bang for both Bruno and Aatami, but only one of them is immortal...

One might argue that the plot is slight, and the film derivative in terms of execution, but if you're after a bit of mindlessly violent popcorn entertainment and found John Wick 4 needlessly overblown and overlong, this one should do the trick: it clocks in at a far more reasonable ninety-one minutes.

At its core, "Sisu" is an unapologetic homage to the one-man-army trope, reminiscent of the over-the-top heroics found in Telugu action films. The protagonist, Aatami Korpi, is a force of nature, a man whose survival defies logic, much like the heroes who walk away from explosions unscathed. His invincibility is both the film's strength and its Achilles' heel, offering a narrative that is as indestructible as it is implausible.

Yet, amidst the chaos of its plot, "Sisu" stands tall with its stunning cinematography and special effects. The film crafts a visual feast that can only be described as mesmerizing. Each frame is a testament to the filmmakers' dedication to creating a spectacle that captivates the senses.

There aren't many directors that I monitor closely, waiting and hoping for their next film to come out as soon as possible, but Jalmari Helander is one guy I keep track off. His long-feature debut "Rare Exports" was one of the most uniquely original and pleasantly deranged horror tales of the new century, and even his somewhat commercialized breakthrough "Big Game" (starring Samuel L. Jackson as the US President crashing with Air Force One in the Finnish woods) was a lot better and more entertaining than you'd think as well.

It took Helander nearly 8 years to return with a new film. At the Brussels' International Film Festival, where "Sisu" premiered and Helander was a guest of honor, he explained that he spent several years working on a personal dream project of his, but unfortunately it got cancelled entirely due to Covid. Out of pure frustration, or so he says, Helander wrote the script for "Sisu" in barely a couple of weeks. Well, if this near-brilliant explosion of action and sheer adrenalin is what he comes up with in a few weeks, then I sincerely hope he'll still get the chance to finish his other project.

What a film! You know those movies where all the great highlights and action-packed moments already feature in the trailer? "Sisu" has a terrific trailer too, but there are still a few hundreds of other highlights left to discover in the film. In fact, this film is a one-and-a-half-hour trailer full of awesome moments. The comparisons I've read between "Sisu" and Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Bastards" are accurate. The extreme violence and narrative structure are identical, and both films feature lots and lots of Nazis getting killed. Everybody just loves watching Nazis getting butchered in the utmost brutal and sadistic ways, is it not?

Aatami Korpi is a lone hermit digging for gold in the most northern region of Finland during the last months of WWII. When he hits the jackpot, he loads up his bag with pure gold and hopes to keep a low profile while heading back to civilization. When a platoon of Nazis finds out what he's carrying, though, they obviously want to steal it. But Korpi is not just a weak and defenseless recluse, or what did you expect? He's a force so determined and indestructible that only an obscure and local Finnish term for him exists.

Evidently (and also similar to "Inglourious Bastards"), "Sisu" requires quite some suspension of disbelief from the audience. This man has the fighting and survival skills of John Rambo, but in combination with the indestructability of a T-1000 Terminator! Whether shot at with heavy artillery or a rope, he cannot die. He remains under water for a ridiculously long time and walks away from plane crashes totally unharmed. Is it plausible? Nope. Is it entertaining? You bet! Especially when watching in a chock-full festival theater with a thousand of outrageous horror fanatics shouting at a screen. Must-see!

Heard this movie was an awesome old school action movie so checked it out, and it is good. Even if it is very over the top.

On the plus side the movie gives the audience what its been starved off. Brutal, adult action with minimal CGI. And with plenty of lines like "we're lucky he didn't kill more of us" it'll put a smile on your face if you miss 80's/90's style action.

On the negative side all the bad guys are terrible shots, and the hero is almost indestructible. Which maybe takes a bit of suspence out of the movie. Especially at the end. Much like modern superhero movies then? At least it got it half right.