Better brings the guns and ammo for this sequel.
If you saw “Sisu,” you would appreciate its combination of “John Wick” and “Inglorious Basterds,” and its hero-the former Winter War vet and gold prospector Atari Korpi. If you see the sequel “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” you would appreciate its wildly violent nature. It’s not the kind that R-rated video game movies overdose on. It’s the kind that uses the genre for fun and to have its action hero develop as a character. And he doesn’t need much words to express his emotions.
This was, once again, written and directed by Jalmari Helander, while Jorma Tommila reprises his role as Korpi. Still with those Tarantino meets “Mad Max” chapter titles like “Motor Mayhem” and “Revenge,” and all the blood and gore splattered with realistic looking special effects, this gives fans of the original what they are expecting. Even though I enjoyed the first film, I didn’t expect it to have a sequel. I probably should have.
It now takes place after the end of WWII, and the mostly silent action hero returns to his home in Soviet-occupied Karelia, where is family was murdered. He dissembles his house, and takes the lumber in a truck along with his dog to find a new place, unaware that he’s about to be dealing with the Red Army. He knows how to take their guns and handle their planes and motorcycles. And my favorite trick is when a pilot tries a kamikaze on the truck, and Korpi lets loose a few logs to set up a makeshift ramp for the plane.
I seem to recall he was given the nickname “Koschei,” which means “The Immortal.” So that means he can get stabbed, bashed in the face, whipped, and badly injured, and yet, he can still walk and fight. After all, he did survive a hanging the last time around. So, I guess both movies don’t care about the logics in real life. They just admire him, and so do we.
The villain, this time, is Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang), a Soviet officer, who is in a Siberian prison, but is given a chance at freedom and a nice wad of cash (what isn’t a freedom deal without a cash deal?) if he deals with Korpi. And that villain is the same man who murdered his family. So, it’s personal for both the hero and villain.
Both movies run for about 90 minutes, and yet, nothing feels rushed. In fact, there’s a scene when Korpi ends up on a train with sleeping guards and walks slowly. He does have to step on broken glass and stab some people before we can get to the noise, but we’re not impatient. We’re at the edge of our seats knowing that he’s capable of being flexible and smart.
Maybe it can get too bloody, but I guess that’s part of the fun of this apparent franchise, and remember, I didn’t know it would start a sequel. I’m glad it did, because “Sisu: Road to Revenge” seems to be playing almost like a post WWII “Mad Max” movie without the sand and heat, but with the trucks, the titles, and the carnage. Helander shows us how both wars can bring out the best and worst of the main character, because he has lost his family and he has to deal with different villains, and I bet he’s thinking: “I’m getting too old for this sh*t.” And you couldn’t have asked for a better actor than Tommila to reprise his role.
I can’t spoil much, but I still appreciate how the film opens, how it centers, and how it closes. And it’s actually cares about Korpi.
