It’s easy to see why Sisu was touted as a Finnish John Wick by many critics.
Set in Lapland during the end of World War II, Jorma Tommila stars as Aatami , a one-man army who has to fend off Nazis while trying to get his loot of gold from the wilderness into the city.
With his desire to be left alone disrupted and a dog to accompany him, Aatami could easily be a distant relative of Keanu Reeves’ Wick - although he makes the American assassin seem like a chatterbox in comparison.
Minus grunts and screams of pain, the dirt and blood-covered Tommila utters 11 words in the whole film, but the way he caresses a ring and the scars all over his body speak volumes.
Instead his story - and legend - is told by others, with the apt moniker of a “one-man death squad” bestowed upon him.
Writer-director Jalmari Helander ( Big Game ) tells the simple tale in chapters, starting with the vestiges of war at a distance; planes in the sky, fiery explosions on the landscape.
It’s a bit bizarre that everyone, even the Nazis when talking with each other, speaks English.
And the movie’s villains are very one-note; they are just there to be picked off by Aatami .
From plunging a knife into a head to vicious hand-to-hand combat, Aatami is never short of a way to dispatch his enemies.
He pulls out bullets and shrapnel and not even a tank can stop him as Aatami has greater recovery powers than Lazarus ; he might not know how to die but he certainly knows how to kill.
Things start to get a little repetitive, which Helander tries to compensate for, fairly successfully, by switching it up to the hunted becoming the hunter during the third act.
Sisu is, literally at times, a blast that will appeal to fans of John Wick and the likes of Rambo and The Equalizer but lacks the depth and originality to make it worth many repeat viewings.
● Are you a fan of action movies? If so, what are some of your favourites from the genre?
Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.
Barry McGill said: “Extraction 2 on Netflix is brilliant. I think it’s even better than the first film; the action is breathtaking.”
● Sisu is showing in cinemas now.
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