In “Sisu,” the John Wickification of action movies continues. This brisk and bloody WWII shooter lost his family in a massacre, according to local legend, and was “a ruthless, vengeful soldier”, with over 300 confirmed kills to his name. “One Man Death Squad”. Brutal and capable, the grizzled hero possesses the nimble, invincible invulnerability of his video game character, amputating his limbs, breaking his neck, and destroying himself without a sweat. Heal your wounds.
Written and directed by Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander, ‘Sisu’ is a kind of thriller usually described as ‘lean’. The setup is grim: In the final stages of the war, a retreating Nazi platoon encounters a lone hero in the barren fields of Finland and steals his gold. they try to kill him. he runs away The rest of the movie is about him trying to get his gold back. Nazi soldiers are shot, stabbed, crushed, impaled, decapitated, trampled, and blown up, images the film displays in grindhouse glee. Imagine a film budget for pyrotechnics and blood effects. I hesitate to do so.
For certain types of viewers, 90 minutes of Nazi-killing violence may be inherently appealing. And it feels like “Sisu” was designed with the blazing enthusiasm of the audience in mind. But 90 minutes of over-the-top mayhem means little if the mayhem is not devised with sufficient wit and imagination. Oddly reserved.
Despite all of the gung-ho violence, this movie never feels jarring or disgusting.Somehow, killing Nazis feels pretty tame. Let’s look at. A cute hunting dog. Perhaps it succeeds in avoiding harm. It’s not that the movie would be better if the dog died, but the feature of the movie is that it gives the audience the potential discomfort of seeing the consequences of all this violence on something other than an unnamed Nazi. It is important not to do so.
There’s something weak about this cautious approach to the ostensibly unforgiving Gore Fest. By the time a band of freed young female prisoners took up arms against their Nazi captives and blew them to smithereens – the fate of the enemy had never been in doubt, victory for the prisoners was predetermined. was – you will probably feel exhausted. This moment, like many parts of the film, is clearly designed to get you excited. more likely.
Sith
Rated R for gruesome carnage, excessive mutilation, amputation, and some strong language. Running time: 1 hour 31 minutes. at the theater.
