Sisu: Road to Revenge: An Action-Fueled Sequel That Repeats the Original's Mistakes (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Back in 2022, a bizarre little action flicked called "Sisu" was unleashed, telling the simple tale of a former Finnish soldier trying to reclaim his stolen gold from Nazis near the end of World War II. It was a film that was big on gratuitous bloodshed & absurdity, but sadly very light on story, which ended up hindering it quite heavily, and yet, it still managed to garner decent reviews from those that praised its over-the-top action sequences. It wasn't exactly what one would call a "hit" at the box office, making only double its modest budget, but apparently this was enough to give the production companies the confidence to make a sequel with an even bigger budget. Could a second outing possibly succeed where the previous film had failed, or will it simply take the same forgettable "less story, more action" approach?

"Sisu: Road to Revenge" picks up in 1946 with Finland having ceded the territory of Karelia to the Soviet Union, which forces Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) to dismantle his family home, load it on a truck, and attempt to find a safe location to reassemble it. Meanwhile, the man who murdered his family, Yeagor Draganov (Stephen Lang), is released from prison with the promise of a pardon if he kills Aatami, thus avenging all the Soviet troops he killed during the Winter War. Because of this, Aatami once again finds himself fighting a brutal battle for his very survival, all in the hope of moving on from his bloody past and getting on with his life.

Looking back on the first "Sisu" film, apparently writer/director Jalmari Helander's starting point was to take a very simple idea and use that to build what was supposed to be an exciting action epic crammed into a relatively short 90 minutes. It's not a terrible idea, but in this case, the foundation for the entire endeavor ended up being too simple. That is to say, very little thought went into the story because the main priority was the action sequences, and as any good director should know, this should never be the case. If you don't have a solid story and fleshed-out characters in place, you're not giving your audience a reason to care about any of it, and so the big, explosive, bloody action sequences aren't going to matter in the least. It's hardly a surprise that the film is quickly forgotten once it's over because Helander simply hasn't given you anything substantial to remember.

When it comes to the sequel, we do find a very slight improvement in the storyline. Whereas the first film merely had Aatami trying to get his gold back, here we find him coming face to face with the man who murdered his family, giving him a chance to take his revenge. That said, the simple story is once again merely a foundation upon which to build one action sequence after another in a rather tiresome series that makes it somewhat difficult to get engaged with the material. It may have a slightly higher emotional resonance than the previous film, giving it the feeling that it actually has a bit of substance, but with it constantly beating you down with its over-the-top excessiveness, you're once again left feeling somewhat numb by the end.

Again, it was a good idea to try and give the film more emotional stakes to it so that it at least gives the audience the chance to better connect with its protagonist, but it still fails to balance out the narrative & character development with its epic action sequences, once again not giving you much of a reason to care as multiple people are slaughtered & blown up throughout its brief 89 minutes. In the end, Helander had the start of an interesting concept, but sadly put his focus in the wrong place, ultimately leaving us with another action-fueled ride to nowhere.

Video/Audio:

"Sisu: Road to Revenge" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.39:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of mostly excellent quality. The picture is decently sharp throughout the film's rather brief 89-minute runtime, but it is a little on the dark side, even in daytime scenes. On the other hand, the 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track is outstanding, giving you all of the dialogue, the multitude of sound effects, and music in fantastic quality. Overall, while the picture could've used a little brightening to help with its somewhat subdued look, Sony has still done a decent job in both areas for the film's physical debut.

Special Features:

Upping the Ante (3 Minutes): A very brief featurette that has Jalmari Helander, Jorma Tommila, and Stephen Lang discussing the film.

Alternate Ending (1 Minute)

Conclusion:

"Sisu: Road to Revenge" may feature a slight narrative improvement in comparison to the first film, but sadly writer/director Jalmari Helander once again repeats the mistake of focusing on the continuous string of action sequences instead of the story & character development, giving the audience little reason to care as they're inundated with non-stop explosions & gratuitous bloodshed, ultimately leaving behind another forgettable actioner that fails to engage.

Score: 2.5/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.