This is going to be the sort of review that arrives with plenty of ease and enthusiasm. 2022’s Sisu was a blast of fun that came out of nowhere. Combining the relentlessness of Mad Max: Fury Road with the darkly humorous sensibilities of Finnish director Jalmari Helander’s comedic inspirations, the WWII action-thriller was in and out in 90 minutes, with plenty of spectacular carnage left in its wake. That film was apparently enough of a hit to warrant a sequel, so here we have Sisu: Road to Revenge. It adds new characters, more spectacle, and other ways to watch it all while wearing a smile. Serving very well as an extension of the first, it may be more of the same, to an extent, but it hasn’t stopped being a lot of fun watching a one-man wrecking machine take on the bad guys.
Set in 1946 at a point where the Soviets now occupy a certain portion of Finnish land, former Finnish Army commando Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) is now planning to deal with his brutally murdered family. His plan – dismantle his family house, piece by piece, load all the wood onto a truck, and rebuild it on Finnish soil, and relax. This plan is interrupted when the Soviets realize Korpi is on their soil, leading them to assign Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang), the man who killed Korpi’s family, to finish off this “man who refuses to die.”
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With a straightforward storyline that gets right to the point, this is clean action filmmaking at its finest. Even as a sequel, the movie does not try to overload itself with new elements or get bogged down in grander world-building. What we have is a story that naturally progresses and delivers on what worked in the original. The strong, creative, and bloody action is matched by a tone that is not full-tilt comedy, but certainly knows when to bring levity, striking a perfect balance that keeps the audience entertained and engaged.
Director Helander is said to have drawn inspiration from Indiana Jones and James Bond, as well as Buster Keaton’s films, and it shows. Yes, this is a film about a near-unstoppable hero who butchers Soviet soldiers with guns, knives, grenades, vehicles, and whatever else he can get his hands on, but the framing of the action often carries a bit of a twinkle in its eye. It’s one thing to see bad people get slaughtered; it’s another to watch well-timed stunts pay off in incredibly satisfying ways, let alone seeing Rube Goldberg-like scenarios occur and draw up laughter.
For his part, Tommila is a pretty incredible silent, straight man. Never betraying his wordless stoicism, the actor must show his determination, strength, and never-ending resolve to push forward, while making the man likable. It’s hard to describe why this works so well, but something about his age, facial expressions, and the way he handles action just works in the best of ways. The fact that he also takes a beating himself does manage to keep a good level of vulnerability in play for “the man who refuses to die.”
On the other side of things, this time around, we get two new recognizable villains in the form of Lang and Richard Brake as a KGB officer in charge. Both are character actors entirely welcome to a world like this, but Lang, in particular, brings all the menace and destruction one expects in his post-Avatar days. The guy is a real bastard, but also seems reasonable in seeing through the KGB’s posturing and just wanting to fight those he knows can provide a challenge.
As far as the action itself goes, as mentioned, there’s a real sense of controlled chaos that makes these movies so much fun to watch. The shock value concerning the level of violent action is there, but it doesn’t outweigh the sheer awesomeness on display when it comes to considering how much thought went into the balancing of elaborate set pieces, the mayhem it leads to, and how to bring humor out of it, rather than being horrified by what’s taking place. Whether or not Helander can keep this series going or bring these same sensibilities to bigger projects, it’s worth noting that he clearly has the goods to tackle complex yet wildly accessible action features.
Clocking in at just under 90 minutes, Sisu: Road to Revenge isn’t interested in wasting any time, let alone trying to find many ways to become overly complex. This is a quick blast of creatively staged, very violent action, delivered with a sense of irreverence that makes the film a rousing good time without veering into too much self-awareness. The film’s fast-paced nature will keep you on the edge of your seat, excited and eager to see what’s next. Basically, these Finnish folk mean business, and they deliver plenty of explosions to prove it.
Sisu: Road to Revenge opens in theaters on November 21, 2025.
