At the same time, the Russian soldier who killed his entire family, Yeagor Dragunov (Stephen Lang), is tasked with finding Korpi and putting an end to both his legend and life. The Soviet troops soon catch up with the lumbering truck, and the skirmish begins. Showing the undiminished desire to start his post-war life, Aatami is not easily apprehended, and things soon spiral out of control in the most gratuitous manner.

The first film was a surprise success and seemingly came out of nowhere. With the character now almost fully established, Finish writer/director Jalmari Helander stays fairly true to the formula, and this has its pluses and minuses. The minimalism of both dialogue and set design is kept, but in an effort to ramp things up, it does strain believability and makes Korpi’s force of will seem even more supernatural.

Now, your ability to live in this world and to buy into that expanded set of circumstances will have a large impact on your enjoyment of Sisu: Road to Revenge. It’s not that the cast and crew have exactly gone Hollywood, but by expanding the tortures endured and increasing the action, it does strain the suspension of disbelief a bit more than necessary.
Rob Hudson
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The violence is ramped up to a ridiculous extreme but since the receivers of the carnage are Nazis you don’t feel that the actions are unwarranted. It is cartoonish in nature but always entertaining. The work is littered with nods to Quentin Tarantino so if you find that auteur’s take on brutality palatable then this will be right up your alley.

Set in the waning days of World War II, a scorched Northern Finland provides the backdrop for the actions of Aatami. He is a prospector with a past and when the Nazis rob him of his gold they find out that that past has consequences in the present. He becomes unstoppable and those in his way pay the ultimate price.

That Sisu is so entertaining is due in no small part to the skill of writer/director Jalmari Helander who was the person behind that anti-Christmas classic Rare Exports. He speaks with a vocabulary imbued with so many touchstones of great action films that have come before and he pays loving homage to them all.
Rob Hudson
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