Who would guess that the star-of-the -show is labelled dynamite?
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE is an absolute blast of a movie thats bigger, crazier and more adapt at action and comedy dynamics than its predecessor SISU.
What’s not to love about Jalamari Helesder’s increasing skills with action choreography and inventive set pieces? Jorma Tommila returns as the silent hero, sizzling in scene after scene of purely thrilling riffs on Mad Max.
World War II has ended and our hero Aatami Korpi(Jorma Tommila) returns to a home that’s bereft of his wife and child. With bare hands he takes the house apart, plank by plank, piles them onto a truck to drive to a place he can rebuild and start over
What could go wrong?….or right?
A Red army officer, Igor Draganov) (Stephen Lang) who killed Korpi’s family is tasked with hunting him down. And so begins one long chase movie as Korpi tries to wheel his home to somewhere safe. Its a clever assembly of set pieces, each building on the one before. Bodies hurl, cars explode, but just when you think the movie has played its best action-cards early…. comes planes vs car.
Working with cinematographer Mike Orasmaa gives “SISU2” propulsion of the non-stop energy variety, the whole movie having that kind of ‘wow’ sense of execution and choreography. The scenarios use foot soldiers, motorcycles, planes, trains and tanks to equip the pulsing action. One doesn’t question the physics of it all, like when Korpi uses his cargo to take down a plane. It works so well, because there is no pause to think about it. The movie really loves blowing up Ruskies.
Along with his faithful Bedlington terrier, our stoic ex-soldier shows off his true metal guts and bottomless resolve that exudes patriotism( Finnish) without the need for flag-waving. Set in 1946, after the U.S.S.R annexed hundreds of kilometres of Finnish territory as a buffer to the West after the war. The territory included Aatami’s unoccupied home, which necessitates the haul-your-own house on wheels. While its furthest from a political statement, the comparison to Ukraine cannot be resisted and explains the dispatch in a bloodthirsty way, in a myriad of ways of Russians.
Stephen Lang brings a relish to the villain role. He is more than a cartoonish moustache twirler, who loves what he does. He brings a truck load of winking- sadism and style to the role. Jorma Tommila pulls off a nuanced performance without uttering a single word during the chaos. Helander has a savant- like talent for over the top action and a gift for capturing and framing epic shots among the vistas that Finland has to offer.
The film in essence, is a high-fructose sugar rush of dispatching Russian bad guys. It feels like an American film in Finnish clothing.
