REVIEW: “Sisu: Road to Revenge” (2025)

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A standout film from 2022 was the action-packed revenge thriller, “Sisu.” The Finnish word “sisu” doesn’t have a direct English equivalent, but it captures a core part of the Finnish spirit – a combination of courage, resilience, determination, and stoicism, particularly when facing hardship. The movie “Sisu” perfectly showcased these qualities in a wildly entertaining and violent film.

The follow-up film, “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” is just as unexpected and delivers even more over-the-top action. It’s a proudly entertaining action movie with a larger budget and significantly more violence. Director Jalmari Helander returns with a thrilling experience for action fans, and Jorma Tommila reprises his role as the stoic and relentless hero, delivering brutal justice to Nazis and corrupt Soviets.

The film is set in 1946, after the Nazis lost the war. With the region in chaos, the Soviets are expanding their influence. Finland has been forced to give up a significant amount of land to Russia, and within this newly Soviet-controlled territory lies the former home of Aatami Korpi (played by Tommila). Aatami is a former Finnish soldier haunted by the deaths of his wife and sons, who were killed by Nazi troops while he was fighting in the war. He’s a reserved and lonely man, but as seen in the previous film, he’s incredibly dangerous when provoked.

Aatami, accompanied by his dog, returns to his former home across the border. All that remains of his past is a small cabin, which he carefully takes apart, loading the wood onto his truck. He plans to transport the pieces back to Finland and rebuild the cabin as a tribute to his family. However, Aatami’s return doesn’t go unnoticed. A KGB officer, aware of Aatami’s dangerous past, travels to Siberia and seeks out Igor Draganov, a notorious Nazi war criminal who is imprisoned there.

We discover that Draganov is responsible for the deaths of Aatami’s family. He chillingly admits to killing Aatami’s wife and children with a shovel, claiming he did so to conserve ammunition. The KGB then makes him an offer: if he hunts down and kills the legendary figure he inadvertently created, he’ll be allowed to return home with a large sum of money. As Aatami and his dog travel towards the border, they are relentlessly pursued by the unhinged Draganov, who throws everything he has at them – including an armored personnel carrier, motorcycles, fighter planes, and a whole host of other weapons.

“Road to Revenge” starts and ends with genuinely emotional scenes. The rest of the movie is almost constant action. Director Helander delivers one over-the-top action sequence after another, each more intense than the last. By the finale, the film pushes the boundaries of believability, but it works because Helander doesn’t treat the action as anything but fun. Dark humor is sprinkled throughout, keeping the movie grounded and reminding you of its playful nature.

The plot isn’t particularly complex, and the characters don’t undergo major transformations, but that’s perfectly fine for a movie that knows exactly what it is. “Road to Revenge” is a straightforward, over-the-top action film. Director Helander doesn’t shy away from intense violence, with plenty of bullets, blood, and physical action. Lang convincingly plays a menacing villain, and Blake is reliably entertaining to watch.

What truly makes this movie work, for me, is Tommila. He absolutely owns every scene, and he does it without saying a word! You can feel the intensity and rage in his eyes, and his commitment to the physical action is incredible – it grounds everything in a real sense of danger and purpose. Even the comedic moments are better because of his deadpan delivery. And the way he handles the beginning and end of the story… it’s just perfect, full of genuine emotion. What’s so impressive is that he does all of this within a movie that knows exactly what it is – a wonderfully over-the-top action film, and he fully embraces it.

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2025-11-21 22:58