Sisu (2022) and Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)

These two completely bonkers films are super gory, in-your-face adventure yarns as we follow the unlikely antics of Finnish resident Aatami Korpi. The first one is set at the end of WWII as his foe is the Nazi army retreating to Germany in 1944. The second is set in 1946, after the dust has settled to some degree, but this time he’s up against the Russians. The feel of the films is much like that of Blood & Gold (2023), which I reviewed previously on my blog.

Sisu (2022)

Korpi is a former Finnish commando who lost his home and family to the Soviets during the Winter War. Seeking peace, he retreats to the Lapland wilderness to pan for gold. He strikes a massive vein, but to cash it in, he must travel over 500 miles to Helsinki through territory currently being scorched by retreating Nazi forces.

He first encounters a small Nazi scout unit. They dismiss him as a pathetic old man until they find his gold. When they attempt to execute him, Aatami kills them with terrifying efficiency, stabbing one through the skull and using their own weapons against them. This alerts SS Obersturmführer Bruno Helldorf, who decides to abandon his retreat to steal the gold, seeing it as his "retirement fund" now that the Nazis are losing the war.

The Nazis discover that he’s a legendary commando nicknamed "Koschei" (The Immortal) by the Russians after he killed over 300 soldiers to avenge his family. They are after him big time now, and it’s up to him to survive. Even though the Nazi soldiers use all sorts of tactics and methods - hanging, drowning, and more - he constantly scrapes through by the skin of his teeth!

The action is bloody and gory with little left to the imagination. Our hero executes all sorts of "Superman" actions to get out of trouble, seeking only to be left in peace to deposit his gold! It turns into something of an Indiana Jones-style outing - for example, hitching a ride on a plane, explosions galore and ending up in a swamp. Great fun. Very silly!

Sisu: Road to Revenge (2025)

In the second one, which is now rolling out to streaming services, Korpi returns to his old home in Karelia (now ceded to Russia). He plans to dismantle his family’s house beam by beam and move it back onto Finnish soil. However, the KGB releases Igor Draganov - the Red Army officer who specifically murdered his wife and sons - to hunt him down.

Draganov taunts our hero, revealing he remembers his sons’ deaths vividly, which fuels his "Sisu" (unbreakable will) to a new level. The film features a Mad Max-style chase where he uses a truck to fight off motorcycles, tanks and even a fighter plane! In one scene, he uses a truck cargo strap to create a ramp that causes a plane to crash.

The final showdown takes place on a Soviet train. After a brutal hand-to-hand fight where he is nearly beaten, he manages to make use of a ballistic missile mounted on the train to attempt his escape. Again, it is all bonkers - but fun, it is. We’re treated to even more blood, guts and gore in this even less likely adventure - and all he wants to do is to get his family home back over the (new) Finnish border!

I think the second is, yes, more nuts than the first, but if you enjoy high-octane action and are happy to let your imagination wander, it is a lot of fun. Both of them. Friday night. Few beers. You’ll love it! Jorma Tommila plays the beef mountain at the centre of our two stories, and Jalmari Helander is directing clearly with tongue firmly in cheek! There’s very little not to like here, so get stuck in, I say!