At the beginning of 2023’s “Sisu,” the title is described as “a Finnish word that cannot be translated. It means a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination.”
The same could be said of the original movie, which has now blossomed into a blood-splattered franchise with this week’s release of “Sisu: Road to Revenge” (overseas, it has the much better title of “Si2u”) through Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems label. It opens opposite Universal’s decidedly not violent “Wicked: For Good” in a piece of serious counter-programming.
What began as a curious import has turned into a holiday movie with global ambitions and it’s put its filmmaker, Jalmari Helander, in place to revive a long-dormant franchise in “John Rambo.”
The first “Sisu” introduced Jorma Tommila as Aatami Korpi, a man living alone in Finland in 1944 during the Lapland War (a two-month-long skirmish between the Finnish and Nazi Germany in the northern part of Finland). Korpi is searching for gold when he and his dog (an unnamed Bedlington Terrier) run afoul of the Nazis. Much bloodshed ensues.
In the sequel, Aatami Korpi, now known as “the man who refuses to die,” dismantles his own home in a Soviet-occupied sliver of Finland, determined to rebuild it someplace safe. He loads the beams of the house onto a truck and is immediately assaulted by Soviet forces, led by a man (Stephen Lang from the “Avatar” movies) who was responsible for the murder of Korpi’s wife. Somehow, this one is even more violent.
Helander said he had an idea for a sequel while filming the first movie, but when it came to actually work on it, he found the idea to be substandard.
“I realized that I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t think it was good enough,” Helander said. He was quickly reminded by his producer that they still owed the Finnish Film Foundation, which supported the original movie, a sequel.
“I started thinking again, and then I got the idea of going to get his house back from the Soviets, so that changed the ball game for me,” said Helander. He wouldn’t say what the original idea for the “Sisu” sequel was, in case he wants to use it for another installment.
Helander claims that casting American actors in the movie, including Richard Brake and Lang, was not meant to consciously broaden the audience but was a necessity, since the sequel is much more expensive than the original movie. “Sisu” cost around $6.5 million to make, while the sequel cost a more robust $12.2 million, making it one of the most expensive Finnish films ever made. The Finnish Film Foundation chipped in a little over $1 million to the budget.
The sequel also changed distributors, with Lionsgate releasing the first movie domestically and Sony taking over for the follow-up. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions handled the distribution of the first movie outside of the Nordic countries and America. Not that Helander felt any additional pressure. “There’s always pressure when you’re doing a film, even if there’s not a big studio – maybe there’s even more,” Helander explained.
He said that since the first movie opened, a lot more people had seen the original “Sisu” and that “I’m hoping there’s going to be a lot of people who want to see this too.”
One of the only alterations from the Finnish to international releases are the chapter titles in the film, which are in Finnish in the original version and translated everywhere else. And the title, of course, from “Si2u” to “Road to Revenge.” He said he doesn’t care about the title change. “I just want people to see it,” he said.
While the first film, Helander said, “is basically ‘First Blood’ in a way – you come across a dude you shouldn’t be f–king with,” he was after something different with the sequel. “I wanted to have more speed, more movement,” Helander explained. “The biggest inspiration for the style itself is an Indiana Jones kind of vibe. Or maybe James Bond with a touch of violence.”
“A touch of violence” might be understating things. “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” like the first film, features some of the most oversized (and genuinely cathartic) violence ever put on screen. Soviet soldiers get knifed, detonated, shot and crushed. It gets to a point where you wonder if the ratings board ever stepped in and tried to tone things down. Helander said that yes, one scene “went a bit too far.” “There was one beating [sequence] and I actually felt it myself when I was filming it. I was like, What the f–k am I doing?” Helander said. “I have my limits too.”
As for what is next for Helander, he was speaking to me from Bangkok, where he’s in pre-production on “John Rambo,” a prequel to the “Rambo” franchise that had inspired him so much. This time the movie will explore a young John Rambo (played by Noah Centineo) and his time in combat in Vietnam. They start shooting at the beginning of 2026.
When we asked what it was like taking over a franchise that had meant so much to him, he said it was “f–king weird.” “I’m trying not to think about it, because I am in a weird position to be in, actually making the ‘Rambo’ film,” Helander admitted.
He said that the producers had approached him earlier about making a film for the franchise. “But I didn’t have a way in. I didn’t want to make a remake or like Old Rambo doing something – they already did ‘Last Blood.’ I think that’s the end,” Helander said.
When he came up with this new idea about a young Rambo and started talking with the writers about it, he was hooked. “I really understood that this could be my way in and I could start fresh, basically,” Helander said. Well, not completely fresh. When we asked about Stallone’s involvement, he teased, “I have an idea how to use him.”
And there is still the possibility of a third “Sisu.” If luck is on their side. Or maybe determination. Also resilience. “If people like the second one a lot and somebody wants to see a third one,” Helander said, he’d be back. But, you know, after his time with John Rambo is done.
