Sisu

Movie Name: Sisu
Year of Release: 2022
Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo, Onni Tommila, Tatu Sinisalo, Wilhelm Enckell, Vincent Willestrand, Elina Saarela, Ilkka Koivula, Max Ovaska
Genre: Action
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 5
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Synopsis and Review

"Sisu" is writer/director Jalmari Helander's third directorial endeavor, following his breakout/debut with "Rare Exports". In the interim he has directed a considerable array of shorts and ventured into directing TV shows such as "Wingman" and "Perfect Commando". "Sisu" takes place in late 1944 and focuses its narrative on a man by the name of Aatami Korpi, who lives a simple life in the company of his horse and dog. He spends his time looking for gold in the Lapland area (in Finland), until he eventually does find a considerable amount of it. He decides to travel towards Rovaniemi, but along the way encounters an SS platoon who are retreating in the direction of Norway, but destroying villages in the process (and have taken quite a few Finnish women with them along the way). While they let him pass, a second unit of soldiers discovers his gold and decides to kill and rob him. Aatami however is swifter, and kills them all and escapes. The first SS group is alerted by the gunfire and discovers what has happened, and some of the nuggets that were left behind. Bruno Helldorf who leads the SS battalion, decides to pursue Aatami in his tank. They soon discover that Aatami is much more than a simple prospector, but they also know Germany has lost the war, and that they need the gold to escape prosecution for war crimes. 

Certain aspects of this film, namely its bloodshed and graphic violence bring to mind the over the top stylings of Michael Davis' "Shoot 'Em Up", a film that came out in 2007, and has become somewhat of a blueprint for many of these post-Death Wish/Rambo B-movie stylings that have been coming out in the last few years. The skeleton of these films is still very similar to the construct of the original B-movies of the 1970s/1980s which started this trend (including the ones from the late Cannon/Yoram Globus/Menahem Golam), however they have since introduced this hyper violent set pieces which have been somewhat legitimized since Quentin Tarantino included them in his own films since the 1990s, which have been labeled homages and a stylistic point of view. "Sisu" brings to mind aspects of Chad Stahelski's "John Wick" series, in the sense that the central character is a stoic, monolithic, and apparently indestructible hero, who goes on a killing spree due to the fact that he's been wronged. While Wick is reeling from the death of his wife, Sisu lives in the aftermath of his own trauma, and the fact that Nazis want to rob him. It's a straightforward premise for a film that never stops, that goes from set piece to the next, much like a video game that takes the user through different difficulty levels. For the most part "Sisu" works quite well, since the motivation for these characters is limited, but also riveting. All these parties do want that loot, for different reasons, and while this isn't a film where we progressively learn more about who these characters are, their limitations don't prevent the film from losing its momentum. It does make the film less impactful, since there isn't much storytelling about these characters and their journey, even if it is an action film. One can always remember John McTiernan's "Die Hard" and Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber character: we never knew much about him, but knew enough to understand that he was intelligent, motivated, had a sense of humor, and was somewhat irreverent. These characters needed a bit more of that, of something that brought them further into the realm of reality, and that is where the film falters the most. The cast is uniformly solid, with highlights going to Jorma Tommila and Aksel Hennie. The production team is solid as well, particularly Otso Linnalaakso's production design and Anna Vilppunen's costumes. It's watchable, but not the most memorable action film.