Sisu: Road To Revenge is what you should want in a fun non-groundbreaking sequel (
click here to read my thoughts on the first film). There’s continuity, the tone is the same, there’s a more interesting villain, and the violence/action sequences are upped a little more this time around.
Even the visual references and homages are the same...
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Max Max: Fury Road / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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The spirit of First Blood is still there
I could talk a whole day about this. What First Blood did to me when / was 10 years old basically changed my life - Jalmari Helander, Collider.com
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| First Blood / Sisu: Road To Revenge |
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First Blood / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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We still get references to old westerns like
Stagecoach
The biggest influences style-wise were a lot of old Western movies - Jalmari Helander, loudandclearreviews.com
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Stagecoach / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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Stagecoach / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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And while it isn’t identical, the usage of chapters is very similar to
Inglorious Basterds (chapters one going in to their respective opening scenes are incredibly similar in spirit).
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Inglorious Basterds / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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This time around, instead of nameless third reich soldiers, “The man who refuses to die” is battling
soviet soldiers led by the man who killed his family years ago (there’s a bounty on our protagonist's head for a war crime he committed against the soviet army years ago). It’s important to note that the story is set during the final year of World War 2.
Like I already mentioned, this movie is similar in tone to the first one but takes the action sequences up a notch.
Sisu: Road To Revenge is incredibly fast paced and far from boring. Stephen Lang gives the standout performance as the lead villain and arch nemesis to the film's hero. On a sidenote - I like how much Lang has been leaning in to being typecast as the tough menacing older guy in most movies these days (
Avatar, Don’t Breathe, Public Enemies, etc).
While we aren’t killing Nazis this time around, the gratuitous violence is still kind of justified.
Sisu: Road To Revenge leans in to the 80s stereotype of killing evil Russian soldiers hellbent on destruction.
Speaking of 80s action films - there appears to be an obvious Die Hard reference towards the end of Sisu 2...
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Die Hard / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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| Die Hard / Sisu: Road To Revenge |
One particular sequence borrows heavily from the first Terminator film...
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Terminator / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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Die Hard / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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Die Hard / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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The film even references the silent era
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For Heaven's Sake / Sisu: Road To Revenge
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I don’t mean to call this movie mindless fun as an insult, but it is some of the best mindless entertainment you’ll find in a movie this year.
