If Finland had the technology to create its own Terminator, it would be Aatami Korpi. Two years ago, Sisu introduced us to the unstoppable killer of Nazis, played by Jorma Tommila with ferocious physicality, raw emotion, and a minimum of dialogue. If you’re into watching Hitler goons getting splattered, blown up, shot, impaled, set en fuego, then it was the adrenaline shot you were looking for. With the sequel, Sisu: Road to Revenge, Korpi is back and this time his sights are set on bloody vengeance against the Soviet Red Army. And while there are plenty of cool kills in this quest for retribution, as well as a glimpse at Korpi’s human side, the visual creativity isn’t there, and so it doesn’t pack the same punch when the bad guys get what’s coming to them.
The war is over, but the pain is just beginning. Korpi escaped the Nazis, but finds that Finland has given up much of its land to the Soviets. Accompanied by his loyal canine, Korpi just wants to get home, but finds that his land is now part of Russia. While Korpi mournfully goes through the remains of his home, tearing up over memories of his murdered wife and two sons, the man who caused his turmoil is languishing in a Siberian prison. That would be demented commander Igor Draganov, played by one of the great villainous actors ever, Stephen Lang. Draganov is released from his torment to snuff out Korpi once and for all, to “clean up” the mess he started.
The simplicity of the Sisu movies is perfect. We understand that Korpi is a man who isn’t just in need of revenge, he’s on a quest for inner peace. Yes, he’s an unstoppable killing machine, but occasionally the humanity breaks through and we see just the slightest glimpse of vulnerability. These moments are few, but when they happen, they are heartbreaking because we know how much he tries to keep any weakness in check.
But it’s those fleeting moments that also fuel him to do some crazy ass shit to his pursuers. Traveling with a truck that contains all that remains of his old life, Korpi finds some nutty ways to take down fighter jets, entire platoons of Red Army goons, a Fury Road-esque motorcycle chase, and even a near-drowning. A lot of this stuff borders on comical, cartoony nonsense, but that’s part of the fun. The violence is meant to be comical to take a little bit of the edge off, otherwise Sisu 2 would be pretty damned grim. That said, I found the action to be a step down from its predecessor. I could count the number of unforgettable slaughters in the first film on two hands, but this one is lacking in that regard. Don’t get me wrong, we see plenty of baddies turned into human grenades, run over by tanks, and in one case going nose-to-nose in a losing battle with an armed missile. Bloodthirsty fans will get what they want, just not to the same spectacular degree.
Director Jalmari Helander has a lot more on his plate this time around. While the action set pieces aren’t necessarily more explosive, Helander has more emotional stuff to work through. And smartly, the film is played like a classic American western: bold, silent hero working through his grief in a lawless land. These quieter moments show not only the depth of Tommila’s performance, but Helander’s skill at evoking our empathy for a hero who barely utters a word. He does this by focusing on the things that keep Korpi tethered to reality: a plank of wood, an old photograph, etc. When these things that ground our hero are threatened, we’re right there with him, ready to run through a hail of bullets to hold on to them.
Sisu: Road to Revenge is, like its predecessor, meant to be enjoyed by a packed crowd of rowdy genre freaks at a Midnight screening. While it’s slower and carries more emotional weight, the slaughter on display is impressively brutal, funny, and probably isn’t going away any time soon. For someone like Korpi, there can never truly be peace, can there? There is always another enemy to fight, I’m eager to see what a Sisu 3 would look like.
Sisu: Road to Revenge is in theaters now.
