Sisu: Road to Revenge Review

Sisu: Road to Revenge delivers bloody, relentless action as Jorma Tommila tears through Soviets in a wild grindhouse spectacle.

After returning in 1946 to the Soviet-occupied Karelia, where his family was brutally murdered during World War II, Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila, of Sisu), “the man who refuses to die,” dismantles his old family home, loads it onto a truck, and sets out to rebuild it elsewhere in their honor. But when the Red Army learns of his return, Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang, of Avatar: The Way of Water), the man responsible for his family’s slaughter, becomes obsessed with finishing what he started: killing the legendary ex-soldier by any means necessary.

From its very first minutes, Sisu: Road to Revenge makes its intentions clear. A gravelly narration explains how the Soviet Union is swallowing Finland piece by piece, setting the stage for Korpi’s impossible mission: crossing enemy territory with nothing but his truck, his house’s remains, and his undying will to honor his family. Once Igor Draganov realizes Korpi is back on his soil, the movie shifts into a relentless chase, one that escalates with every set piece.

Watching Sisu cut down Soviet soldiers is an absolute blast. The film throws realism out the window, but that’s the point: it’s designed to be outrageous. Whether Korpi is mowing down enemies, narrowly escaping death, or pulling off stunts that border on supernatural, it never feels like the movie is taking itself too seriously. Helander knows exactly what kind of film he’s making: one that embraces excess for the sake of fun.

The pacing is one of the film’s biggest strengths. There’s no fat here; it moves like a bullet, never lingering too long on exposition or downtime. That momentum keeps the energy high and the audience fully locked in.

Where the film stumbles, though, is with its villain. Stephen Lang is always magnetic to watch, but Igor Draganov doesn’t quite feel like the towering threat the movie needed. He’s certainly ruthless, after all, he murdered Sisu’s wife and children, but beyond that, the character feels more like a narrative necessity than a fully fleshed-out nemesis. A more menacing, cunning adversary could have elevated the stakes even higher.

Still, when the movie leans into its strengths – over-the-top violence, darkly comic absurdity, and Tommila’s steely presence as Korpi – it’s impossible not to get swept up in the chaos. This isn’t a film asking to be dissected for deep themes or historical nuance. It’s a film that reminds you what movies can do when they stop worrying about rules and just have fun.

Sisu: Road to Revenge is pure cinematic adrenaline, a film that embraces its outrageousness and delivers wall-to-wall entertainment. It’s not perfect, its villain is undercooked, but when the action is this relentless and this fun, it hardly matters. Sometimes, all you need is a man with nothing to lose and an army standing in his way.

Sisu: Road to Revenge was screened at Fantastic Fest on September 21-24, 2025. The film will be released in U.S. and Canadian theaters, in U.K. and Irish cinemas, and globally in theatres on November 21, 2025. Read our review of the first movie!