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Sisu: Road
to Revenge (2025)
 
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Directed
by:
Jalmari
Helander |
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COUNTRY
Finland/USA |
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GENRE
Action |
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NORWEGIAN TITLE
Sisu: Road to Revenge |
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RUNNING
TIME
89 minutes |
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Produced
by:
Petri Jokiranta
Mike Goodridge |
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Written by:
Jalmari Helander |
Review
Anyone with even minimal experience
with the action-vigilante genre will quickly recognise the
storyline: A bereaved father sets out to exact revenge on those who
butchered his family and ravaged his homeland. The setting is the
contested territory of Karelia in the wake of World War II, the
enemy are Soviet troops, and our protagonist is a taciturn man of
the soil. Still, what sets this more lavish sequel to the 2022 hit
Sisu apart, and elevates it to the upper echelons of the
vigilante sub-genre – alongside pictures such as
Dirty Harry
and Death
Wish – is its complete aesthetic and stylistic
consummation. Filmmaker Jalmari Helander exhibits a wonderful flair
for composition and dynamism. He propels his predictable story
forward with energizing drive and gusto, flavouring his
protagonist's revenge spree with moments of humanity, vulnerability,
and inventive set-pieces packed with MacGyverish details. The film's
aesthetic feels as though George Miller were let loose in WWII-era
Finland – a world of lumber, dynamite, and punishing manual labour.
At the centre of it all, Jorma Tommila gives a remarkable physical
performance, gradually revealing far more emotion than initially meets the
eye. We feel his plight, because although his endurance and fighting
skills are otherworldly, his roots and connection to the corporeal
and terrestrial are very much of this world.
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