Road to Revenge’ Filmmaker Jalmari Helander Talks Trilogy Idea

In 2023, I attended a press screening that malfunctioned beyond repair, and the theater apologized with a popcorn and drink, as well as entry to another film that was scheduled to start within a few minutes. So I took the plunge, sight unseen, and any lingering frustration from the evening’s tech problems quickly went away due to how entertaining the complimentary screening was. That film was Jalmari Helander’s Sisu. 

The World War II action-thriller became something of a sleeper hit, prompting a sequel in short order. Sisu: Road to Revenge, which hits theaters on Nov. 21, picks up a couple years after Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), a former Finnish commando, laid waste to an entire Nazi platoon that dared to mess with the wrong guy. Aatami begins the sequel with a quest to dismantle his family’s log cabin in what was once Karelia, Finland. The Finns had to cede this territory to the Soviet Union as part of the Moscow Armistice toward the end of World War II.

The rub is that the Soviets’ Red Army murdered Aatami’s family five years before the events of the first film, and he first created his legend as being immortal when he eliminated over 300 Russian soldiers as payback. Well, now that he’s returned to Soviet-controlled land to retrieve his lumber and rebuild elsewhere, the Soviets seize the opportunity to finish off Aatami by recruiting the imprisoned Red Army commander (Stephen Lang’s Yeagor Dragunov) who killed his family.

Helander’s second chapter offers up even more mayhem than the first film, but ends in a very emotionally satisfying way. While the Finnish writer-director would be happy to end the story here, he admits he has a threequel in mind.

“I have some ideas. I also think that [Sisu: Road to Revenge] is a pretty beautiful ending to the story, but let’s see what happens,” Helander tells The Hollywood Reporter.

In the meantime, he’s prepping his First Blood prequel, John Rambo, for a January shoot. It’s a natural next step for Helander, considering First Blood was a formative film during his childhood and the Sisu films wear Rambo‘s influence on their sleeve. Noah Centineo will now be inhabiting the role of the traumatized Vietnam vet that Sylvester Stallone made famous across five films. Whether it’s Rocky or now Rambo, Stallone has been reluctant to completely pass the torch in either of his franchises, so Helander is all the more motivated to make him proud. 

“Of course [I’m motivated to make Stallone proud]. It’s a big deal for me to actually do a Rambo film, and there’s a lot of responsibility,” Helander says. “So I’m just trying to do the best I can with it, and I hope that’s enough.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Helander also discusses the mid-pandemic career crossroads that sparked Sisu, as well as directing his brother-in-law in the lead role of Aatami.

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What’s the origin story behind this now franchise? 

​​There’s a dark place where that came from. (Laughs.) I was trying to make a new feature film, and I wasn’t happy with anything I was writing. And when I finally got one script ready, which took something like six years to do, the pandemic came and everything went to shit. I then realized that I needed to do something fucking cool, or I wouldn’t do anything anymore. I then just wrote something without any expectation of selling it or making it. I wasn’t thinking, “If I do this, I could easily get money.” I just wrote something for myself, and I’m lucky it worked. So that’s the place where Sisu came from.

You cast your brother-in-law, Jorma Tommila, in the lead role of a former Finnish commando, Aatami Korpi. Has Jorma always been an intimidating figure to you? 

He has, actually. I was a big fan of his as a young boy, long before I knew him. And when I found out that my big sister was starting to date Jorma, I was like, “Yes! I might have a way in now.”

You’ve cast him and his son, Onni Tommila, in several films, actually, so you’re quite a good brother-in-law.

(Laughs.) I’m just lucky to know these guys. 

Does Jorma ever try to add a line of dialogue here or there? Or does he love playing a silent character?

No, he definitely loves it. It’s pretty hard at first to write without a lot of dialogue. But then you get used to it, and it becomes easier. And when you’re actually shooting it, it’s so much more satisfying to do a scene without dialogue. It forces you to think more cinematically. You have to explain things in pictures, and for some reason, it comes pretty natural and easy to me. If you have a big dialogue scene, you never know beforehand how it will play out. Maybe the dialogue doesn’t work. So not having it feels more pure to me.

After Aatami singlehandedly took out a Nazi platoon in the first film, you started with another sequel idea where he is called into service again by the Finnish Army. Did you actually script that initial idea?

It was never a finished script, but I had a story in mind, and I wrote it. My producer, Petri Jokiranta, said it really simply. He said that it’s a different thing when you are called to do something. In the first film, Aatami was just minding his own business until somebody interfered with him. So having trouble find him just gives it a different flavor, and [Sisu 2] is better now that Aatami is not actively trying to avenge his family or go on a mission. Instead, he’s doing what he needs to do, and then trouble finds him again.

You definitely found a better idea, because never in a million years did I think I’d be rooting for a character to protect his lumber — the logs that made up the home where his now-slain family once lived.

Yeah, I’m really proud of that emotional side of the story. It elevates the film to a different level. I’m also really happy that I could make a film where the craziness of the action and the emotion of Aatami can coexist in a way that’s not too weird. So I’m happy it worked.

Compared to the first movie, I think you had double the budget this time. Could you breathe a little easier than you did on the first movie?

I don’t think it’s ever easier. The money, the budget, fits the story. I had a bigger story, and I needed more money. But it’s the same in a way because I still couldn’t fuck around all day and improvise all kinds of shit. So the budget is always tight because it’s connected to the story.

There’s a lot of dangerous stunts in this film. Which one had you the most on edge from behind your monitors?

There were a couple of big explosion scenes that took a lot of money, time and rehearsal. We basically devoted entire days to shoot these shots. If the explosion was supposed to happen in the evening, we’d spend the whole day preparing for that one shot. We had only one take, and you just hope for the best. So it’s pretty thrilling to watch it happen.

Stephen Lang is perfect casting for the villain role. He’s the toughest 73-year-old on the planet, and his character, Dragunov a worthy foe for the 60-something Aatami. They mirror each other. Was he part of a pretty short list?

When I was writing, I thought Dragunov would be younger and more of a physical threat in a way. But when the idea came up for Stephen Lang to be the villain, I immediately knew that it was a perfect idea. Jorma and “Slang” have some similarities. They’re both easy to shoot, and when they’re not saying or doing anything in particular, you still find it interesting to watch them. They both have a silent charisma that really works.

The big action is so clever, but the smaller moments are equally satisfying, such as the outstretched arms of the sleeping soldiers, or the devious, laughing pilot.

Yeah, I’m really happy about the train sequence. I thought, “What would Steven Spielberg do if a character had to walk through a train car full of sleeping soldiers? What kind of problems would you have?” So I spent a lot of time just imagining what could go wrong and what would make Aatami’s quest more difficult and more entertaining. I then had a really good time making it because I’ve never actually done anything quite like it. It’s a pretty long scene where he’s sneaking around, and while not much happens at first, I’m glad I was able to add exciting and entertaining elements to it.

What’s also unique about these films from an American perspective is that we’re provided a different angle on World War II. It’s interesting to see how the war affected smaller countries like Finland, both during and after. 

Yeah, there were a lot of sad things going on during that period of time, and I hope we don’t have to see that again.

Sisu: Road to Revenge ends in a surprisingly touching way. I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to make a third film, but there’s still going to be demand for it. So how much have you thought about it?

I have some ideas, so let’s see what happens. I also think that [Sisu: Road to Revenge] is a pretty beautiful ending to the story, but let’s see what happens.

Sisu was partially inspired by First Blood, and now you’re making a prequel to First Blood called John Rambo, starring Noah Centineo as the title character. Sylvester Stallone is known for being territorial about his franchises, and he’s earned that right. Has that only motivated you to make him proud? Has that motivated you to make an awesome movie so that he realizes this direction was the right call?

Of course. It’s a big deal for me to actually do a Rambo film, and there’s a lot of responsibility. So I’m just trying to do the best I can with it, and I hope that’s enough.

What elements from Sisu are you going to apply to John Rambo?

There’s a lot of similarities between the Rambo and Aatami characters. Both of them are broken by war, and so there’s going to be similarities.

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Sisu: Road to Revenge opens in theaters nationwide on Nov. 21.