Sisu

Heard this movie was an awesome old school action movie so checked it out, and it is good. Even if it is very over the top.

On the plus side the movie gives the audience what its been starved off. Brutal, adult action with minimal CGI. And with plenty of lines like "we're lucky he didn't kill more of us" it'll put a smile on your face if you miss 80's/90's style action.

On the negative side all the bad guys are terrible shots, and the hero is almost indestructible. Which maybe takes a bit of suspence out of the movie. Especially at the end. Much like modern superhero movies then? At least it got it half right.

Sisu is about a gold miner who finds the richest of golds in an underground pit. He must trade the gold for cash to a bank. Although, he lives thousands of miles away from a bank and must travel on foot. On the way there, he encounters German Nazis along the way who want to steal it from him. He must fight throughout all of them in order to deposit his gold.

The first impressions of Sisu gave me that it was a bloody, fun, and good time of a gold miner killing Nazis. Since John Wick was heavily inspired by director, Jalmari Helander, that this movie is basically the German 1940's war version of John Wick. Jorma Tommila's (main protagonist) acting skills were badass from his creative surviving skills to kill the Nazis. The deaths were entertaining with the special effects and CGI of them. Overall, Sisu is good with its acting, kills, and story. I would recommend Sisu in theaters for a good action watch.

I watched the trailer, and that's it. I knew what to expect and I accepted it. I gave 8/10. Film was 1,5 hours and never had a boring moment. Film just went on like a German tank. Better than most recent James Bonds and closer to early Clint Eastwood westerns with silent scenes and unspoken moments. Just brilliant. The guy got beaten really bad but did not give up, even when the death is obvious, your determination "Sisu" will save the day.

Not all movies are for everyone. So it is useless to complain, same as arguing of colors, is red better than green?

Totally worth of watching and the trailer nails it pretty well. Movie has a story and it is realistic filled with some comedy and "red juice".

For as much as there is to like about Sisu, and there is a lot, the film does ask the viewer in equal parts to continuously suspend reality. Sisu is at its best in close quarters combat, when the fists and knives take center. The cinematography plays with the vast landscapes and camera techniques (one forced perspective shot of a tank staring down the gold prospector left me awestruck). The brisk runtime of 91 minutes ensures there aren't many lulls between Nazi blood being spilled. There is copious gore from both Nazis and our protagonist's unwilling desire to die. There are even damsels in distress.

I cannot say Sisu is exactly what I expected from the trailer, because truth be told, I wasn't expecting mimicry sequences of Mission Impossible hanging from a plane, Rambo stalking with a survival knife, or the other half dozen far-fetched antics. The film's unwilling desire to never take itself too seriously is both why it works so good, and perhaps what ultimately keeps it from being even better...

Who doesn't enjoy seeing evil Nazi's beaten to a pulp, torn limb from limb, and generally getting what they deserve? (Answer: other Nazis). Director Jalmari Helander dedicates Sisu to the art of killing goose-stepping fascists, pitting the despicable jack-booted German's against Aatami (Jorma Tommila), a hard-as-nails Finnish commando who doesn't know the meaning of the word 'quit'. After Aatami strikes gold in the wilds of Finland, he makes his way back to civilisation to cash in his hoard, but crosses paths with a Nazi platoon - and we all know that Nazis like to steal gold!!

However, trying to take Aatami's treasure proves to be a big mistake: no matter what the German's do to him, he simply won't give up until he has gold back and every last Nazi is dead. The fact that the Finnish soldier is so indestructible takes some swallowing, until it becomes clear that his nickname - The Immortal - is to be taken at face value: this bloke has more lives than a cat. Once you wrap your head around the fact that Aatami simply does not die, the film becomes all the more fun, as the enemy come to realise that taking an immortal's hard-earned riches is an even dumber move than nicking a leprechaun's pot of gold.

In terms of style, the film is very Tarantino-esque, split into 6 chapters, each introduced with a big bold title; the violence is graphic, with lots of blood and guts. There's even a group of female Finnish POWs who lend Aatami a hand in killing the baddies - and there's nowt more Tarantino than a gang of women unloading machine guns into a truck of Nazis. The ending takes the craziness up to eleven as the nastiest Nazi, Bruno (Aksel Hennie), makes his escape on a plane, unaware the Aatami has hitched a ride. The action ends with a bang for both Bruno and Aatami, but only one of them is immortal...

One might argue that the plot is slight, and the film derivative in terms of execution, but if you're after a bit of mindlessly violent popcorn entertainment and found John Wick 4 needlessly overblown and overlong, this one should do the trick: it clocks in at a far more reasonable ninety-one minutes.