SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE. It Takes no Prisoners

Better films in the “revenge cinema” genre rely on two key pillars. First, the protagonist must have a solid motivation for seeking vengeance—the clearer it is, the better. Second, they need a determined and charismatic antagonist, someone the audience can hate as much as the hero. This formula works perfectly in the first John Wick, Jonathan Hensleigh’s The Punisher, or The Equalizer. Any unnecessary plot complexity would only get in the way. A recent addition to this discussion is Sisu: Road to Revenge, which continues the story of Aatami Korpi as he battles soldiers of totalitarian armies. While Nazis were the villains in the first film, in the sequel, the enemies wear the red star of the Soviet army.

Where the first Sisu could have its plot summarized in two sentences, the sequel barely needs one. In what seems like an even further simplification, we essentially get a barebones premise: after the war, Aatami returns to a territory that once belonged to Finland, now part of the Soviet Union, intending to dismantle his house and move it elsewhere—while Red Army soldiers try to kill him. The rest is simply unrestrained, bloody, and grotesque carnage.

The filmmakers’ creativity in dispatching the Red Army soldiers is undeniable. They die in spectacular and unusually inventive ways, although I felt that the methods used to eliminate the Nazis in the first film offered a bit more variety. Blood still flows in torrents, and Aatami barrels forward like a battering ram, overcoming every obstacle fate and his enemies throw in his path. Unlike the original, the protagonist doesn’t utter a single word here, essentially embodying raw, primal, unstoppable force. His opponents, aside from the commander, are nameless cannon fodder, while only the villain’s boss has even a hint of personality.

And “hint” is the key word. Dragunov (Stephen Lang) serves as the perfect foil for Aatami. Their duel represents the clash of absolute, uncompromising justice with the ultimate embodiment of evil. Aatami only displays positive emotions in two scenes—at the very beginning and the very end—and precisely because these moments are so rare, they hit with tremendous impact. The performances, relying largely on facial expressions, are extremely powerful, making the audience feel that in a world so saturated with violence, suffering, and misfortune, even a spark of goodness seems almost impossible—its existence defying the laws of physics.

The film is structured into short, roughly fifteen-minute chapters, each titled, evoking the style of Quentin Tarantino. The action kicks off even faster than in the first installment, and once it starts, it never slows down, moving from one high-octane sequence to the next. The filmmakers draw heavily from other movies—references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Mad Max series, and James Bond are clearly visible. Yet Sisu: Road to Revenge has its own unique style, where bloody set pieces and spectacular sequences allow no breathing room.

Everything is filtered through grotesque exaggeration, and at times Jalmar Helander’s work borders on parody (the tank scene!). But even the most outrageous sequences fit perfectly in this world. Here, fun—splattered liberally with the blood of both villains and hero—is the priority, and realism is sacrificed in its name.

The director tells the story primarily through visuals. Dialogue is scarce, and the production design is limited to Finland’s picturesque landscapes and the gloomier territories of the Soviet Union, evoking westerns and remote frontier towns in the American prairie. The music, especially at the start, recalls the sweeping scores of Ennio Morricone.

The sequel is a very solid example of revenge cinema that takes no prisoners. It’s brutal, blackly humorous, and bloody, and you can’t help but root for Aatami. It won’t appeal to everyone, but if you enjoyed the original, the continuation should not disappoint.