‘Bills. Big ones, please. Won’t be so damn heavy to carry...’
Even when action movies receive positive reviews, the general gist seems to be one of condescension. Sure, they’re entertaining but they are also mindless. Whilst that may be true of some films within the action movie genre, just because a film has lots of punching and kicking, it doesn’t mean it is somehow lesser than other more ‘serious’ films. John Wick, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Pig… these are all intelligent, well-made films that fully deserve all the accolades that they have received. Sisu, from Finnish writer-director Jalmari Helander, whilst not being quite as successful as those mentioned earlier, is still a cut above your average action punch-em-up…
We needn’t waste too much time on plot. At the end of WWII, an old, Finnish soldier (Jorma Tommila) and prospector discovers a huge amount of gold bullion in the Lapland wilderness. Unsurprisingly, a group of Nazi soldiers decide they are the rightful owners of said gold. The old prospector disagrees. An argument ensues. And this argument continues to rage for 91 wonderful minutes.
If you can get past the fact that a cast made up primarily of German soldiers are all speaking English the whole time (and I could) then there is a lot of exquisite punching to enjoy throughout. Helander clearly understands the type of film he is making and there were moments here in which I laughed out loud at the sheer audacity of some of the set pieces. Obviously, this all requires a huge suspension of disbelief, but when I come into a movie about Finnish supersoldiers and stolen Nazi gold, I’m not looking for realism. I’m looking for punching.
The one-man vigilante trope has been done to death throughout cinematic history but Sisu is proof that there is life in the old dog yet. Driven by a committed and at times genuinely intimidating performance from Tommilla, Sizu is a violent delight. I was smiling the whole time.