Sisu

The previews are clear; the author doesn't even hide the fact that he hasn't had a peek at the same things you have. In the first more serious (not to be confused with serious) half it goes much better than in the second half, which pushes the deliberate guilty pleasure envelope a bit too hard. But even then, it’s good, playful and stylish. Only that it should have been either all in the style of the first half, or in the style of the second half from the beginning. This way, it feels somewhat like they took the opening of the first Rambo and the ending of the third. It doesn’t feel like a whole in neither style nor concept. That said, I wouldn’t mind a prequel set in the Winter War with a proper budget. (2023-04-23)

The creators seem to have experimented with some unearthly psychedelics, because this supposed Tarantino-esque film set during World War II turned out to be absolutely insane. Fortunately, Sisu offers a brutal and visually striking spectacle from the Finnish plains, which we don’t get to witness every day. The main character doesn’t speak much (his first and last words come right at the end); instead, his actions do the talking. And those actions have a lot to say!... The action is over the top, completely ignoring any conventional modesty. Some sequences even stretch logic to the point where the poor guy might never recover :D (the scene in the river, the hanging, the ending with the airplane, etc.). Even for me, it was too much (and I’ve seen quite a lot in my relatively short career as a reviewer, I’ll be honest). But as I said, it does have a certain flair. So, leave your brain at home and head to the movie theater. For me, it’s 6.5/10. (2023-04-24)

A bunch of Nazis steal gold from the Finnish Santa Claus, but unfortunately for them, he's an ex-commando of Finnish elite assassins and he doesn't like it very much. Don't be fooled by the film's description and look, as this is no serious murder mystery, but a pure swag satirical comedy that just happens to have the premise it does. Anyone expecting a Finnish killing spree John Wick should go into the film with caution and temper expectations, but anyone who wants to see a pissed off SISU grandpa tearing limbs off, destroying tanks and slicing up Nazis by the hundred-sixths in a very wacky and far-fetched format (10 minutes underwater, holding on to a plane and sprinting with a shot leg...) should go for it. Because I'm afraid this "festival film" for a narrow spectrum of viewers won't be available for download any time soon, so I'd take the cinema screening option. Although it may not have been the aim, I had a good time, and even though I don't often seek out this unrealistic and over-the-top genre, I enjoyed this one. (2023-04-20)

Ironically, the promising bubble created by the trailers bursts with the first action scene. The Tarantino-like titles, chapter divisions and a would-be spaghetti western atmosphere are unfortunately not enough to turn a boy's foolishness into a real film. I found Sisu surprisingly boring and most of all he struck me as a Finnish version of Machete, including the feeling that it shouldn’t have been more than a trailer. (2023-04-29)

Sisu is an entertaining B-movie from inhospitable Lapland. Stylish, bloody, funny, lively and even a bit cartoonishly fantastical. It’s not exactly innovative in terms of its subject matter, but it is unpredictable and imaginative in some scenes. The presence of Aksel Hennie as a top Nazi was pleasing. (2023-05-19)