2023 had already brought us John Wick: Chapter 4, an action masterpiece starring Keanu Reeves, but just ahead of the summer blockbuster movie season, action fans got a surprise treat with the movie Sisu.
Hailing from Finnish writer/director Jalmari Helander, Sisu takes place in the final days of World War II and tells the story of an ex-soldier who discovers a massive vein of gold as he's mining. However, when he runs into a squad of Nazis they desperately try to take the gold from him, leading to a brutal battle between the soldiers and the highly skilled man who embodies the Finnish phrase "sisu" — meaning an unimaginable determination.
(If that sounds like something you'd want to watch but you're subtitle-averse, don't worry, the movie is in English).
Sisu has garnered rave reviews, including being "Certified Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 94%. Many are making comparisons between Sisu's main character and Reeve's John Wick, including some on the internet asking if Sisu and John Wick are related? They're not. But they do have a number of striking similarities that we think are worth putting a spotlight on.
Warning, we are going to be divulging some SPOILERS for Sisu below.
1. Sisu and John Wick both have legendary backstories
When we're first introduced to both Sisu's main character Aatami and John Wick, we aren't fully aware of just how badass they truly are. But we, like the characters they have pissed off, quickly learn that there is more to them than meets the eye.
In the case of John Wick, he is a former professional assassin, widely considered one of if not the greatest in a whole world full of professional assassins. His exploits are so legendary that he is often called Baba Yaga, which in the movies we're told means "the boogeyman."
Aatami also has a pretty awesome nickname — Koschei, a character in Russian folklore known as "the immortal." Aatami was called Koschei because as a soldier he would work as a one-man death squad, killing hundreds of Russians.
Both men have tried to move on from their past and maybe they would have been able to if their enemies in these movies just realized who they were dealing with.
2. Sisu and John Wick aren't big talkers
John Wick is not much of a talker, but he's a regular chatterbox next to Sisu's Koschei.
You want found John Wick spewing out cliched action movie quibs, as his signature catchphrase is just "yeah." But he's not opposed to having conversations, it's just not going to be a lengthy one, as he seems to be more precious with his words than he is with his bullets.
Koschei, meanwhile, does not actually say a word in the movie until the very end. It makes sense early on, as he is panning for gold alone. But as he faces off against the Nazis, he goes on his rampage in silence, charging ahead like an avalanche, crushing everything in its path.
3. Sisu and John Wick are animal lovers
John Wick and Koschei are intimidating figures, but they do have soft spots in their hearts for animals.
Anyone who has seen the John Wick movies knows that his whole crusade of vengeance began because some gangster's idiot kid decided to kill the dog that his late wife had gotten him. He would later get another dog. There's a fun line in John Wick: Chapter 3, when Sofia (Halle Berry) ruins the plan they had because someone shot her dog. John tells her he gets it. You certainly do dog dad.
Koschei has a dog of his own, as well as a horse. While it's easy enough to believe that since this is World War II the dog and horse serve as much of a purpose as they do as pets, just see how Koschei acts with them and you'll know that these are more than just animals he uses to help him complete certain tasks. He mourns his horse when it is killed and he often does everything he can to protect his dog.
The two men may be skilled killers, but they're easy enough to root for based on how they treat their animal companions.
4. Sisu and John Wick show their pain
What both of these movies prove is that it is extremely difficult to kill these two men, but they are not necessarily like the invincible action heroes made famous by Arnold Schwarzeneger in his prime, barely breaking a sweat while disposing of countless bad guys.
Both Koschei and John Wick take their licks along the way and have the scars to prove it. Each character at one point or another has to take a second to patch themselves up. But what makes them so dangerous is that Finnish phrase, sisu — they have an unparalleled determination to do what they set out to accomplish and aren't going to be denied no matter who gets in their way.
Of course they each have at least one moment where we have to question if they are actually immortal. In Sisu, surviving the plane crash, while in John Wick: Chapter 3 it's surviving a fall off the top of the Continental. We'd be hard pressed to think that wouldn't take them out of commission for a bit longer than is shown (or entirely), but that's where the good old suspension of disbelief comes in. With each of these movies were more than willing to let them have that so they can accomplish their pursuits.
You can watch Sisu and John Wick: Chapter 4 exclusively in movie theaters.
