The best thing about Sisu was its direct and no-nonsense approach. An exciting action film that didn't get bogged down in unnecessary subplots, resulting in an adrenaline-fueled, bloody, and impactful experience. The sequel, Road to Revenge, maintains the same approach. This time, the indestructible protagonist, Aatami Korpi, faces the Red Army. Aatami had killed three hundred Soviet soldiers single-handedly during the Winter War to avenge the death of his family, and had become a legend. Two years after his discovery of gold, Sisu embarked on a journey to his family home in Karelia.
He used to live there with his wife and two children, before they were brutally murdered by Soviet soldiers. Since, in 1944, Finland had ceded Karelia to the Soviet Union as part of the peace treaty, Aatami decided to travel home, dismantle the house he had built, and rebuild it in a safe location. But shortly after Aatami crossed the border, the KGB learned of his movements and intended to kill the man and destroy the myth that had been created around him.
Director: Jalmari Helander
Writer: Jalmari Helander
Stars: Jorma Tommila, Stephen Lang, Richard Brake
Aatami's family was brutally murdered by Igor Draganov; their bodies were dismembered with a shovel and subsequently fed to stray dogs. Igor was being held in a prison in Siberia and was released on the condition that he eliminate Aatami, as his stories had affected the reputation of the Soviet Army. Aatami was already in Karelia; he had dismantled his house, loaded the logs onto his truck, and was determined to rebuild it. Dismantling the house that held countless memories for Aatami was not easy. He wept upon entering the house; clearly, his family was the only thing that mattered to him, and now that they were gone, he had nothing to lose.
Aatami was heading towards Finland when his path was blocked by a Soviet Army van. He assumed they would cause him trouble, and the moment he saw the Molotov cocktail in one of the soldiers' hands, he knew he had to act immediately. Aatami managed to neutralize all the soldiers, but he spared Igor, because he didn't want to harm someone who hadn't actively tried to shoot him. Aatami had no idea that the man he had spared was the same one who had ruthlessly murdered his family. Igor now had a pretty clear idea of the man he was dealing with.
He realized that taking down Aatami wouldn't be an easy task, but he was ready for the challenge. Igor ordered soldiers on motorcycles and even pilots to take out Aatami. He was being attacked from all sides. Just as he finished killing the motorcyclists, he had to find a way to protect himself from the planes. They fired at him repeatedly, and he ended up taking refuge in a barn. He thought there was no way to protect himself there, so he decided to go back to the road. But driving down the road with planes constantly attacking him wasn't easy, and he ended up crashing his truck into a lake.
Aatami almost drowned, but then he released the logs and used them as a makeshift raft to float on the water. While floating, he stumbled upon an abandoned tank. Aatami loaded the logs into the tank and used dynamite, landmines, and fuel to somehow catapult himself towards the Soviet camp, but unfortunately, his plan didn't go as expected. The tank was destroyed on impact, and Aatami was seriously injured. He had no choice but to surrender. But before getting out of the tank, he had driven a sharp knife blade into his leg. As expected, Aatami was repeatedly tortured. He was hung from the ceiling of a train car like fresh meat, and repeatedly beaten with a red-hot iron.
He was bleeding all over his body when Igor intervened. He realized that Aatami had an extreme tolerance for physical pain, but the only thing that completely destroyed him was the murder of his family. So Igor intentionally recounted in detail the brutality with which he had killed Aatami's wife and children. He added that his eldest son, Otava, was brave and fierce, and that he remembered the little boy because he had suddenly tried to attack Igor in the eye. He had tried to fight to protect his mother and younger brother until his last breath. Igor looked Aatami in the eyes and promised to extinguish the fire burning within him. He believed that Aatami was a consequence of his actions, and he promised to end the legend surrounding him, to turn him into a mere piece of flesh without memory, and to use the wood from his house to build railroad ties. Igor didn't realize that everything he had said only fueled Aatami's rage.
As soon as Igor left, Aatami gathered all his strength and fury to break free from the iron grip, and he succeeded. The soldiers stationed outside the train car where Aatami was imprisoned heard a loud bang. They were startled to see through the small window that Aatami had broken free. One of them decided to go in and check, and well, you can imagine what happened to the soldier. Aatami was unstoppable. The soldier (who had gone in to check on Aatami) assumed he had no weapons, but he had no idea who he was dealing with. Aatami had pulled the knife blade out of his flesh and carried it with him as he moved from one train car to another. He tried to move silently because he didn't want to cause chaos before reaching his target: Igor.
Aatami did his best to be quiet, but there were a few setbacks. A couple of soldiers had gone out to relieve themselves, and Aatami had no choice but to kill them. He could undoubtedly have killed all the soldiers on the train with ease, but he was an honorable man and didn't want to spill blood unnecessarily.
In the ensuing chaos, there were some moments of dark humor, like when Aatami was walking on the roof of the train and suddenly a thick pipe shot out in his direction and ended up falling into one of the train cars that was full of Soviet soldiers. They tried to shoot him, but we're talking about an invincible man fueled by the fury of revenge; there's no stopping him! Aatami grabbed two machine guns and fired repeatedly until the train car was completely silent. Igor was in the train car next to Aatami's. He heard the shots and immediately realized it must be him.
He understood that the legend surrounding him was true, and the only way to escape his fate was to uncouple the train car. Aatami watched as Igor's train car pulled away, and although he was initially frustrated, he soon spotted a ballistic missile right next to him. He immediately decided to use it as an improvised propulsion system to catch up to Igor. Igor thought there was no way to stop Aatami, but he also had in mind the money his KGB contact had promised him. So, immediately after disconnecting the coupling, he shot the KGB agents he was having dinner with.
His contact offered him the promised money, hoping that would be enough for Igor to leave him alone, but Igor decided to kill him anyway. Just when Igor thought he had made the most of the situation, Aatami appeared flying in (thanks to the missile!). Aatami used his bare hands to repeatedly punch Igor, but, of course, he was injured and not in his best physical condition. Igor overpowered him and repeatedly beat him.
During the climax of Sisu: Road to Revenge, Igor grabbed a shovel and used it to hit Aatami. He did this intentionally, as he had also used a shovel to dispose of Aatami's family. The missile was still bolted to the base, although it was already activated. Igor didn't realize that Aatami had a plan; he assumed it was all over for "the man who refuses to die." In the end, when Igor asked Aatami if he had any last words, he simply spat a screw out of his mouth. Igor finally put two and two together, and by the time he realized that Aatami had freed the missile, it was too late to escape. Igor tried to run, and for a second, the missile stopped right in front of his face, and he briefly thought that perhaps it wasn't his day to die yet, but he was wrong. The missile finally consumed Igor, and the train car exploded, creating shockwaves in the surrounding area.
Aatami, the indestructible, finally returned home to Finland. He was bloody, but he still managed to carry the logs to the border. When he handed his passport to the border guards, they saluted him as soon as they read his name. Aatami was a national hero and had finally returned to the place where he could spend the rest of his life in peace.
At the end of Sisu: Road to Revenge, we discover that Aatami had begun his dream project of rebuilding his home. He didn't have his family by his side, but at least the house would mean they were finally in a safe place and their souls could rest in peace. Furthermore, despite everything they had been through, Aatami's poodle had managed to survive and remained the only faithful companion of that brave man.
Aatami was busy building the house when a group of men approached him. Instinctively, he thought they had come to harm him, but when one of the men told him they wanted to help him build his house, he was moved to tears. He had lived such a brutal and merciless existence that the sudden kindness and genuine respect surprised him.
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