Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)

The first Sisu film was an unexpected hit that came out in 2022 which saw a guy called Atari try and kill some Nazi’s who were after his gold. That was the film and it was a stripped down enjoyable action film. I was slightly worried when I saw the trailer because it looked like it was just going to be a dumb ridiculous version of the first film and it is but that is why i love it. The set up of the film is that Aatami is trying to relocate his home after his wife and kids were killed but the guy who killed them Yeagor (Stephen Lang) is released from a Siberian prison to kill Aatami. That’s it. That’s the plot. Slightly more than in the first one but not by much.

Firstly the whole film is ridiculous because of pretty much everything that happens in the film. There is one moment where a plane flies sideways through a forest before clipping Aatami’s truck, then there is the tank that he ‘acquires’ and straps the wood from his house to it and just as it arrives at a border it flips through the air before landing right side up. Also there is a rocket that is on a train and he uses the power of the rocket to catch up with the train that is carrying Yeagor on it. Those things actually happened in a motion picture and that is looking over the fact that all the wood that he collects from his house at the beginning manages to make it to the end.

Despite saying ZERO words, Jorma Tommila manages to come across as a great protagonist. I can’t remember if he said anything in the first but technically the dog is more vocal than Aatami. Stephen Lang is probably a lovely guy but I don't remember seeing him in anything where he is a good person. His motivation is clear and he just seems to be having fun playing this horrible person. He talks in one scene about all the women and children that he has killed and he can’t remember any of them and then to add more sinister vibes to his character he says he can remember one and that being Aatami's wife. Richard Brake plays the KGB officer who sends Yeagor on his mission and even though he is only in it briefly it's worth talking about him as he is the only other person that actually says something in this film. It’s clear that he isn’t going to let Yeagor go even when he presents him with a briefcase full of money. 

This isn’t as good as the first one but that's fine. It’s still a good film in its own right and I left the cinema with a massive smile on my face which is not something that I was expecting. Sometimes a film can be big and silly and get away with it. It’s not simply a case of not trying, a film has understood what it is and this absolutely understands that it has a simple plot and needs to fill its 90 minute runtime with something. Not sure if there needs to be a third one but if it keeps in line with this one then I for one wouldn’t mind.