One of 2022’s biggest surprises was the historical action-fueled revenge thriller “Sisu”. The word “sisu” is Finnish and it has no single one-to-one English translation. It’s a word used by Finns that represents their national character. It conveys courage, grit, tenacity, and stoicism, especially in the face adversity. The movie “Sisu” embodied all of that and packaged it in a bonkers and bloody genre blast.

Now equally surprising, we have a sequel, “Sisu: Road to Revenge”. It’s pure and proud genre entertainment that’s more bonkers, much bloodier, and with a noticeable bigger budget. Writer-director Jalmari Helander is back, serving up a full-course meal for action lover’s. And Jorma Tommila returns as the film’s fury-filled silent protagonist, dishing out heaping helpings of justice on a variety of well-deserving Nazi and corrupt Soviet scumbags.

The story takes place in 1946. The Nazis have been defeated and the Soviets are taking advantage of the regional instability. Finland had been forced to cede a large portion of its land to Russia. Sitting within the now Soviet-owned territory is the old homeplace of Aatami Korpi (Tommila). He’s a former Finnish Commando still grieving the brutal murders of his wife and two sons by Nazi soldiers while he was away at war. Aatami is a quiet, solitary man. But as we saw in the first film, he’s not someone you want to upset.

Together with his beloved Bedlington Terrier, Aatami crosses the border and returns to his old home. The cabin that remains is all that’s left of his past life. So he dismantles it and loads the wood beams onto his truck, determined to transport it back to Finland and rebuild it in his family’s honor. But as he works, the Soviets get wind of Aatami’s presence. Knowing his violent reputation, a KGB officer (Richard Brake) travels to Siberia where he approaches imprisoned Nazi war criminal Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang).

We learn Draganov is the man who murdered Aatami’s family. He ruthlessly and proudly boasts of cutting Aatami’s wife and children to pieces with a shovel in order to save bullets. The KGB offer Draganov a deal – track down and kill the legend he created and he can go home a rich man. So as Aatami and his pup make their way back to the border, they’re suddenly pursued by the maniacal Draganov who throws everything at them including an APC full of troops, armored bikers, fighter planes, and more.

“Road to Revenge” opens and closes with two surprisingly moving sequences. Everything in between is quite literally non-stop action. Helander crafts one wild set piece after another, each a little bigger and a little bloodier than the one than came before it. By the end the movie reaches a point that some could argue is simply too absurd. But it works gloriously because Helander never takes the action too seriously. In fact, there are injections of black humor all throughout which ensures we never lose sight of what the movie is at its core.

It’s true, there’s not a much of a story and the characters are who they are from beginning to end. But that’s okay in a movie so assured of its identity. “Road to Revenge” prides itself in being a no-holds-barred action romp. Helander pulls no punches in letting the bullets spray, the blood splatter, and the limbs fly. As for his key players, Lang is no stranger to playing snarling villains and Blake is always fun on screen.

But it’s Tommila who sells it all the best and without uttering a single word. His steely intensity, the fury burning behind his eyes, and his fearless physicality infuse the action with grit and purpose. His straight-faced handling of humor makes the funny scenes funnier. And the amount of raw heartfelt emotion he brings to the story’s bookends begins and ends things on just the right notes. Impressively he manages it all in an openly over-the-top genre movie that never pretends to be something it isn’t.

VERDICT – 4 STARS