Written and directed by Jalmari Helander, SISU could be the beginning of another adrenaline-fueled franchise for movie lovers. There’s much to unpack from the Finnish-American historical action film, from its Nazi-killing protagonist Aatami (Jorma Tommila), and his brutal murdering skills to the depiction of exhilarating fight scenes. SISU’s unrestrained violence and the electrifying performance of the leading man has drawn comparison to the John Wick films and its legendary hitman.
For a movie to bring John Wick to mind means one of two things: it’s either the film has several grounded elements going for it, or it’s only a wannabe knock-off that painfully replicated the premise of John Wick films. Jalmari Helander’s SISU leans towards the former and that makes a good outing for the director. However, the Finnish filmmaker swears the inspiration for his movie was drawn from a robust fountain of diverse genres of action films, from gun fu to heroic bloodshed and what have you.
SISU Wasn’t Inspired By John Wick
To a reasonable extent, it’s fair to say SISU is akin to the John Wick franchise. This is especially true in terms of the leading characters’ uninhibited and aesthetic killing of their enemies. But then, Jalmari Helander has distanced the movie from John Wick, albeit subtly. In an interview with LosCriticologos, he details the source of his inspiration for SISU; carefully avoids mentioning John Wick which has been the most buzzed-about factor about the movie.
Helander shares that SISU was inspired by the films he grew up watching. He names old westerns and John Woo films, alongside Rambo: First Blood and Mad Max. In another interview, he told Finland’s prominent evening tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that SISU’s protagonist was partly inspired by Simo Häyhä, aka The White Death. Häyhä is renowned as the deadliest sniper of all time. He was a Finnish military sniper during the Second World War and it’s believed he killed more than 500 enemy soldiers at the Winter War.
Why It’s Good That SISU Wasn’t Inspired By John Wick
At the core of it, the premise of SISU solidly differs from the John Wick story. Set during the Lapland War in late 1944, SISU follows Aatami Korpi, a Winter War veteran as he embarks on a Nazi-killing spree to keep his gold. Though the way he went about his killings is quite John-Wickish, SISU fundamentally carries a different aura, one that’s unique to war and history—thus paying plenty of homage to the events and people that inspired it.
Had the film ideated directly from John Wick, it would have been detrimental to its posterity. While John Wick fans will always appreciate over-the-top violence and vengeful killings, a knockoff would gain little or no traction in the cinematic world. More so, SISU’s distinctive tone and context give it a chance to forge a path for itself, with the possibility of tapping into John Wick’s fandom instead of competing for attention with a franchise that has earned a long-lasting legacy.
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