‘Sisu: Road to Revenge’ Review: After Nixing Countless Nazis, One-Man Army Goes Up Against the Russians in Gleefully Excessive Sequel

A sleeper hit in 2022, Jalmari Helander’s “Sisu” was a cartoonishly down-and-dirty adrenaline rush for action fans, not unlike the OG “Mad Max” decades earlier. That particular comparison grows even more apt with the arrival of “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” in which Jorma Tommila’s seemingly unkillable protagonist must battle innumerable bad guys at high speed on various forms of transport.

Bigger isn’t necessarily better, and this larger-scaled sequel almost inevitably lacks some of the freshness that made the original such a kick. Still, the director’s undeniable flair for gleefully excessive mayhem and propulsive pacing will more than satisfy those who loved its predecessor. Its comparatively lean, mean progress feels particularly welcome after so many recent screen thrill rides that delivered far less punch at much greater length and expense.

Last time around, decommissioned Finnish army commando Aatami Korpi (Tommila) only wanted to be left alone as WW2 wound down. Alas, finding gold in the Lapland tundra awakened the greed of departing Nazi forces with zero idea who they were messing with: a “one-man death squad” who’d already claimed many a uniformed Russian life after Soviet forces killed his family during the brief but brutal “Winter War” of 1940. His vengeance was sweet, gory and spectacularly over-the-top.

This time, the terrifically fit 60-something protagonist is encountered in 1946, the global conflict now officially well over. He’s driving a huge truck to his old home, which thanks to redrawn borders now lies in Russian territory. He intends to dismantle, then reassemble it in what remains of Finland. But Soviet authorities haven’t forgotten that this “legend” singlehandedly snuffed out more than 300 of their troops.

Red Army officer Igor Draganov (Stephen Lang) is released from a Siberian prison — where he’s being held for committing innumerable needless wartime atrocities — by a KBG bigwig (Richard Brake) to ensure Aatami never sees Finnish soil again. The two adversaries are uniquely matched, in that Korpi knows the other brutally murdered his wife and sons, while Draganov won’t feel he’s truly completed the job until the father is dead, too.

This setup takes about 10 minutes, after which it’s one dynamic set-piece after another: Aatami manages to escape an initial roadblock-cum-ambush, then attack by phalanx of motorcylists, followed by fighter planes with machine guns. After a brief aquatic interlude, there’s a protracted climax aboard a train speeding back to Siberia, bearing myriad armed Soviets plus one bloodied, shackled prisoner. Needless to say, the survival odds are stacked — against the poor Russkies, that is.

Divided into six titled “chapters,” these episodes are mostly aces in terms of staging, stuntwork and CGI. Occasionally, the violence comes so thick, we’re not quite sure what just happened. And even within the suspended-disbelief bounds established, a few hairbreadth escapes are preposterous, notably one where Aatami makes a tank do mid-air acrobatics to leap past a barrier.

Entertaining as it is, such craziness isn’t so well supported by a thread of black comedy as it was in the first “Sisu.” You could also argue there’s a bit too much dwelling on general ickiness here, as the manliest man in the far north seems to be frequently digging bullets and other objects out of his lacerated flesh. (Spending pretty much the last half hour bleeding in boxer shorts amid subzero weather appears not to bother him in the slightest.)

But Tommila’s turn retains a degree of flinty humor, even some warmth — despite never getting so much as a word to speak. Lang’s expletive-riddled speech comprises most of the dialogue. If Draganov isn’t the most distinctive villain role he’s ever essayed, he still fills its shoes well, receiving a particularly explosive exit as reward. Brake’s part is brief, while other cast members provide no more than cannon fodder. The canine performer playing the protagonist’s Bedlington terrier disappears for quite some time, in one among several minor if conspicuous plot holes in Helander’s script that it’s best just to step over.

Shot largely in Estonia, “Sisu: Road to Revenge” is muscular rather than ingratiating in most aspects, from Mika Orasma’s widescreen cinematography to the physical design contributions. The fairly standard action bombast of Juri Seppa and Tuomas Wainola’s original score gets some idiosyncratic flavor via passages of throat singing and spaghetti-Western-style whistling. The English-language version reviewed has a bit of subtitled Finnish speech toward the end; a separate Finnish-language edition is also in release.