Jalmari Helander’s Sisu delivers exactly what audiences expect from it. This film is one big bloody gorefest, and if that’s your thing, you’ll love it.
Watching the trailer for Sisu gives you a great idea of what you are in store for. This movie is packed with action, from start to finish. Bloody, gory, action. While there is a little bit of a story weaved in, it is more or less there to justify all the killing. And you know what? I am not complaining.
Sisu starts with a gold miner hitting the jackpot. Along his journey to trade in his findings, he comes across some Nazis. Fighting ensues. Lots and lots of fighting. He is strong and powerful and must make his way through many men in order to get to his destination. Sometimes you think he dies, only to pop right back up and start massacring Nazis again.
The movie itself is just ninety minutes. It flies by, largely in part due to all the action. The set pieces are impressive as is the fighting choreography. Even though you will be distracted by all the blood and gore, there is something top be said about the costumes and set design.
Sisu goes all out. It knows exactly what it is, and it is completely unafraid to embrace it. There is not a whole lot of dialogue in the film either. These guys talk with their fists. Sure, there are a few conversations had, but they are mostly the Nazis trying to figure out who this gold miner is and how they can kill him for good.
The best way to describe Sisu is a bloody, action packed, western meets war movie. While the sandy dunes certainly give it that western feel, the fighting and the tanks add in the war movie elements.
It’s hard to say a lot about this film because it really wasn’t made for the plot. It is meant to completely shock you and that it will do. The team behind this one get creative with the deaths, with each one getting more and more disgusting (in a good way).
Overall Thoughts
Sisu only works because it knows exactly what it is. It never tries to give the audience too much of a story. Instead it leans in on the violent gore and never looks back. This is advertised gold miner versus Nazis and that is what is delivered.
If you want to see a bunch of people get brutally murdered in ways that you probably never even imagined would ever make it to the screen, this movie is for you. If you can’t stomach body parts blowing up and blood and guts, maybe you should pass. It is non-stop action from the very start with barely any dialogue.
There is barely a crumb of a story in there somewhere in there, but lets be honest, no one is paying attention to it.
Rating: 3 out of 5
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About Sisu
During the last desperate days of WWII, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat in northern Finland. When the Nazis steal his gold, they quickly discover that they have just tangled with no ordinary miner.
While there is no direct translation for the Finnish word “sisu”, this legendary ex-commando will embody what sisu means: a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination in the face of overwhelming odds. And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-man death squad will go to outrageous lengths to get his gold back – even if it means killing every last Nazi in his path.
