Sisu

This Finnish World War II revenge film wowed with the trailer of the year. The film itself may not be a new genre milestone, but it's pretty cool. The not too experienced Jalmari Helander has originally enriched the popular library of current action movies. He chose a feared main character (John Wick, Nobody), whom everyone is afraid of, has a dark past and is a brutal beast in action, and swapped classic gangsters for Nazis, which is cool and fresh. Story-wise, however, it's very simple. The protagonist finds gold at his house and decides to take it to the nearest bank, but along the way he has to beat up a bunch of Nazis who want to steal it. The protagonist doesn't say much, the actions simply speak for him and when it comes to the getting down and dirty, it's a nicely brutal and dirty affair with an almost western feel to it. Unless you're willing to accept what all the main character can and can't survive, you won't enjoy it (if that bothered you in Wick, it's doubly true here), but I'm OK with it. Outside of the action sequences, it's a bit slower and more intimate, but luckily it's only 90 minutes long, so the movie goes by very quickly. I must also praise the villain, who played the evil Nazi brilliantly. There aren't many genre films like this being made and it's definitely my kind of thing. If you like revenge movies and Nazis, you shouldn't hesitate to go to the cinema. 75%. (27.04.2023)

The previews are clear; the author doesn't even hide the fact that he hasn't had a peek at the same things you have. In the first more serious (not to be confused with serious) half it goes much better than in the second half, which pushes the deliberate guilty pleasure envelope a bit too hard. But even then, it’s good, playful and stylish. Only that it should have been either all in the style of the first half, or in the style of the second half from the beginning. This way, it feels somewhat like they took the opening of the first Rambo and the ending of the third. It doesn’t feel like a whole in neither style nor concept. That said, I wouldn’t mind a prequel set in the Winter War with a proper budget. (23.04.2023)

Take out the resident. Lapland. Specifically, veteran Korpi, whose dog looks like a lamb, but he himself is no sheep. The trailer promised an enticing spectacle of grit in Nazi asses, but who could have guessed that’s pretty much all there is. Jalmari Helander blatantly steals from another thief (from the episode titles' font to the chunks of gold glaring into the face like an open trunk on Vincent Vega), but in the midst of physical anomalies, violence, blood, and slow-motion shots, I found that the style of exaggeration missed the mark quite a bit. Otherwise, I assume this film was an appendix to Finland's NATO application. (17.05.2023)

Quentin Tarantino fans present… Once upon a time in Nazi-burned Lapland… When northerners make something like a Western, can it be called Northern? The initially low-key conflict between a lucky prospector who stumbles upon a hefty pile of gold and a beaten Nazi commando in a stolen Soviet T-55 turns into a bloodbath that should be taken with a grain of salt and treated more as entertainment than as a statement with historical value and philosophical insight. There’s a lot of blood and everything is filmed by fans of the genre with gusto, good ideas and a feel for visuals. There's no one well-known in the cast except for Aksel Hennie as the Nazi Obersturmführer. (23.04.2023)

Sisu is an entertaining B-movie from inhospitable Lapland. Stylish, bloody, funny, lively and even a bit cartoonishly fantastical. It’s not exactly innovative in terms of its subject matter, but it is unpredictable and imaginative in some scenes. The presence of Aksel Hennie as a top Nazi was pleasing. (19.05.2023)