Outside of the impeccably-crafted action sequences, stunning production design, bone-crunching fights, and bullet-riddled mayhem, perhaps the single most remarkable thing about the John Wick franchise is that it just keeps on getting better.
This year’s Chapter 4 is both the best-reviewed and highest-grossing installment of the quartet, boasting respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 94 and 93 percent from critics and audiences, while it’s flown past $375 million at the box office in what’s an incredible achievement for an R-rated epic that runs for almost three hours.
However, some unexpected competition has emerged when it comes to naming 2023’s finest example of wanton cinematic carnage that throws everything including the kitchen sink into the mix, with Finland’s Sisu brutalizing the discourse. It’s currently neck-and-neck with Chapter 4 on Rotten Tomatoes with a 93 percent critical score and 94 percent audience approval rating, and at 90 minutes, it’s an ideal way to indulge any penchant for onscreen chaos you may have.
The fact director Jalmari Helander hasn’t been recruited for a Hollywood blockbuster grows even stranger now that he can add Sisu to an impressive resume that includes cult favorite Christmas horror Rare Exports and underrated throwback Big Game, but the jaw-dropping story of a lone prospector single-handedly taking down Nazis in the northern reaches of Finland definitely deserves to be seen by as many people as humanly possible.
While calling it “the Finnish John Wick” is doing Sisu a disservice, it’s one hell of a marketing hook to get people excited.
