Perhaps a sequel was unnecessary, but this year, Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander delivered one to his surprise 2023 action hit Sisu, which was received warmly by most audiences and critics. In an interview with PTI, the filmmaker says his love for action movies began in childhood while watching James Bond movies with his father.
However, after growing up, he knew that making an action movie of his own was impossible, since there were neither "zero" action films in Finland nor "big-budget" action filmmaking.
"There were only five million people living in Finland; basically, you don't have the money to do big action films. But I'm happy to be here doing that now," he added.
The 49-year-old director made his debut in 2010 with Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, and directed one more feature, Big Game (2014), before landing an opportunity to bring international attention to his talents. In the first Sisu outing, Jorma Tommila played a former commando, single-handedly taking on enemies in the bloodiest fashion. He is unlike any of the invincible action movie heroes we’ve seen so far.
Both Sisu films demonstrate the skill of a filmmaker capable of handling huge action set pieces. He mentions one in the latter as particularly challenging, the 'Motor Mayhem' sequence. "I don't remember how many days we were shooting it, maybe ten or something or even more. But that was really time-consuming. You've a lot of moving vehicles and moving cameras, and that takes a lot of planning to have the timing right. And that was probably the hardest," he shared.
Helander is currently at work on his biggest project yet, the Rambo prequel led by actor Noah Centineo (The Recruit), cast as the younger self of the iconic character played by Sylvester Stallone over the course of five movies. Pre-production has commenced in Bangkok. "It's going to be my take on what I like about the Rambo franchise, combined with the style I like to do it. So, I'm just trying my best, and I hope it works," he said.