Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)
Directed by: Jalmari Helander
Premise: A sequel to the 2023 film. Set in 1946, Finnish military veteran Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila) travels into Soviet Russian territory to transport his family homestead. Korpi is pursued by the ruthless Soviet commander (Stephen Lang) who killed his family.
What Works: The original Sisu introduced the Finnish warrior Aatami Korpi, who killed leagues of Soviets during the Winter War of 1939-1940. Following the end of World War II, portions of eastern Finland were annexed by the Soviet Union. Korpi disassembles his family home, transporting the materials to Finnish land and battles Soviets including the commander who killed his family. Road to Revenge does the duty of a sequel to respect the original picture while expanding the story and the characters. We get similar action set pieces and the sequel is brutal but it also allows a little more insight into Korpi and his motives. The most surprising and affecting scenes of Road to Revenge are not the violence but the quiet moments. In the opening, Korpi arrives at his family home and is overwhelmed with the memories of his wife and children. There are similar scenes later on, especially the very end of the picture. Reprising the role of Korpi, actor Jorma Tommila gives an intensely physical performance. He has hardly any dialogue but Tommila doesn’t need it because he communicates so much through his posture, his face, and especially his eyes. Road to Revenge also expands the scope of the action, with set pieces that are bigger and more elaborate than the original film but also make the conflict more personal. Taken with the first film, Road to Revenge completes Korpi’s journey to reestablish his home and the sequel enhances the overall story.
What Doesn’t: The original Sisu was a surprise. Although it recalled the action films of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 2023 film had a unique tone that was simultaneously brutal and elegant. Road to Revenge shares the visual style of the original Sisu but nothing in it feels quite as fresh or creative. The movie includes two extended set pieces in which Korpi drives a truck and is assailed by a formation of motorcyclists and later by two warplanes. These sequences are remarkably similar to set pieces in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The pacing of Road to Revenge isn’t quite as relentless as the first film and in going bigger the sequel loses some of the immediate and intimate impact of the original picture.
Bottom Line: Sisu: Road to Revenge is a worthy companion to the original picture. It can’t recapture the surprise or efficiency of the first Sisu but Road to Revenge does deepen the characters and provide a satisfying end to this story.
Episode: #1077 (December 7, 2025)