Brutal John Wick descendant Sisu promises more than it can deliver

polygon.com:

It’s 1944. The Nazis are being forced out of Finland, and they’re using scorched-earth tactics, burning down everything and everyone on their way out of the country. They’ve destroyed villages and kidnapped young women, and now they’re looking for more targets to take out their anger on after their humiliating defeat.

Enter Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), a grizzled, legendary Finnish veteran of the Winter War with the Soviets. He’s trying his hand at gold prospecting, and he doesn’t want much to do with the present conflict. As a Nazi battalion of tanks and vehicles pass him in the field, he doesn’t pay them much attention. But when a small group of Nazis attempt to steal his gold and kill him, Aatami breaks out his dormant set of murdering skills and gets to work, dispatching the soldiers with ruthless, brutal abandon.

That’s the premise of Sisu, the new English-language Finnish movie looking to capture the hearts of John Wick fans everywhere with its own version of vengeful “retired killer leaves retirement” action. “Sisu” is an untranslatable Finnish concept, as the opening text explains: “It means a white-knuckled form of courage and unimaginable determination. Sisu manifests itself when all hope is lost.” In this case, Sisu manifests through Aatami, a quiet, intense man who does not speak until the movie’s final lines of dialogue. Aatami travels through the gorgeous Lapland landscape, which brings a sense of the vastness of the Finnish countryside to Sisu, with the emptiness and desolation heightened by images of burnt villages.

A significant tonal clash holds Sisu back from being the kind of fun midnight action fare the relentless advertising campaign promises. Tommila’s grounded, silent performance as Aatami, along