SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE

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...

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

First Blood / Sisu: Road To Revenge

First Blood / Sisu: Road To Revenge

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

Stagecoach / Sisu: Road To Revenge

Stagecoach / Sisu: Road To Revenge

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).

Inglorious Basterds / Sisu: Road To Revenge

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.

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.