“That was dope”: the bonkers action movie Samuel L Jackson adored
Few actors seem to enjoy their day job as much as Samuel L Jackson, who’ll sign on for pretty much anything that comes his way for the sole reason he loves to work.
His filmography has sailed past 200 credits, and as a result of his prolific output, not all of them have been winners. He’s an Academy Award nominee, the recipient of an honorary Oscar, and the highest-grossing actor in history, but being in more movies than most people inevitably means he’s also been in more bad movies than most people.
Whether it’s his status as Quentin Tarantino’s ongoing muse, his continued adventures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his contributions to the Star Wars franchise, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, action sequel Die Hard with a Vengeance, or battling King Kong, Tarzan, or RoboCop, though, Jackson is no stranger to top-notch escapism.
He’s been in plenty of crazy films along the way, so when somebody with such rich knowledge of cinema calls a film “dope”, it’s worth paying attention to. One prime candidate was one of the most bonkers actioners in recent memory, a gloriously violent and gratuitously over-the-top rampage of revenge that would make John Wick blush.
“I saw Sisu the other night. Have you seen that one?” he asked Rolling Stone. “That was dope. I like crazy movies like that!” His excitement is infectious, and it’s also right on the money because director Jalmari Helander threw everything and the kitchen sink into the mix, crafting a batshit bonanza of big-screen brutality.
The movie is set in the final days of World War II and follows a prospector named Aatami Korpi, played by Jorma Tommaila. Korpi, who has recently struck gold, encounters a brutal group of Nazis led by a ruthless SS officer. When the Nazis steal his gold, Korpi must use his formidable skills and strength to track them down and reclaim what is rightfully his.
Sisu is indescribable, and the type of movie that demands to be seen to understand its wondrous insanity, but the easiest way to sell it to the unconverted would be to imagine a wartime John Wick with even more violence, a protagonist so indestructible he makes Rasputin look like a disposable henchman, and the sort of film where a landmine being lobbed at somebody’s head before detonating on impact happens very early on and looks positively quaint compared to what comes next.
It’s an action junkie’s dream, with Jackson far from the only person to give it the stamp of approval. Sisu is a tonal masterclass that somehow exists as both an unhinged exercise in excess that’s one step away from parody yet somehow treats itself, its characters, and its world very seriously despite everyone watching the blood-caked romp knowing fine well that Helander is on the joke, too.
