When a Soviet fighter jet comes torpedoing into a truck carrying the hero of “Sisu: Road to Revenge,” who then pumps the brakes, sending a trunk of wood planks flying forward to create a makeshift ramp that said jet slingshots off to avert disaster, one is left to wonder: Can the dumbest movie of all time also be the greatest?
Not really. But in “Road to Revenge,” a kind of slapstick Rambo movie in which this plane stunt is maybe the fourth most insane thing to happen, a barrage of blood-spattered inanity eventually becomes a delirium of popcorn pleasure. Written and directed by Jalmari Helander, the movie is a sequel to “Sisu” (2023) an exploitation movie that toggled between lowbrow absurdity and the lurid dopamine hits of uninhibited guts and gore. By the end you were often surrendering to the splatter.
This one, though, pushes that equation to its limits until it becomes a self-indulgent comedy of ultraviolence. In this follow-up, we’re reintroduced to Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), an ex-Finnish Army commando who, fueled by vengeance over his family’s murder, became known as the man who refuses to die. Now, the Red Army commander (Stephen Lang) who killed his family has returned to take him out — at all costs.
That means a high-octane ramping-up of its action pastiche: Mad Max-like murder chases, aerial dogfights, somersaulting army tanks and Lang doing many one-liners in a horrendous Russian accent. It’s gloriously, audaciously silly, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a good time.
Sisu: Road to Revenge Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore and language. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. In theaters.
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