Not Rated | 1h 23m | Action, Comedy | April 28, 2023
Here are two Quentin Tarantino movie knock-offs, one Australian: “(Snag”), and one Finnish: (“Sisu”). “Sisu” you should see, “Snag” you should not. Let’s save the best for last.
In “Snag,” in a Mexican border town, an Australian man (Ben Milliken, director and star), works for a female drug kingpin (Ana Ortiz), and then falls in love with the boss’s daughter, Valentina (Sofia Castro). Snag’s out of his element as the sole Caucasian among the Mexicans, but the gringo’s fighting skills, ability to take a vicious beating, and Bruce Willis type attitude are quite helpful in these surroundings.
Snag hates being called the “gringo,” because he’s not American, and feels a deep and abiding need to keep reminding everyone about this. Because people often ask, “Who is this gringo?” Which is what you’ll also be asking. He’s also often referred to as a drug mule, but he doesn’t care for this description either. Snag’s very mysterious, and we never find out how an Australian got involved with a Mexican drug cartel.
Snag (Ben Milliken, director and star) contemplates violence in “Snag.” (Assemble Entertainment)So then, after Valentina is killed, Snag starts life over again, until he finds out that his former sweetheart is not dead, but being held captive. Snag sets out with an ally and some new friends to rescue Valentina. Along the way, he encounters assassins and various instances of backstabbing.
You should not watch it. Milliken, a former boxer with Australian acting credits and bit parts in American TV and films, directed and starred in this vehicle to get himself noticed in Hollywood, which is an admirable and very difficult thing to do, and is the way show business is primarily conducted these days.
Milliken’s made a wannabe Quentin Tarantino flick—and why not? Just don’t waste your money on it. “Snag’s” got a tiny bit of charm, and Milliken’s got a charismatic face and likable personality; he should eventually achieve stardom down the road, in a higher-budget film, with a competent director.
There are some funny running gags, but “Snag” basically just a show business tool; this is Milliken handing in today’s version of a headshot and resume. Let the Hollywood movers and shakers figure out how they can make money off Milliken, and then go see the resulting movie.
“Snag” is now streaming on digital platforms and in select theaters.
Movie poster for “Snag.”‘Snag’
Director: Ben Milliken
Starring: Ben Milliken, Sofia Castro, Ana Ortiz, Jonny Beauchamp, David Zayas
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 1 hour, 23 minutes
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
R | 1h 31m | Action, War, Drama, Comedy | April 28, 2023
Finnish director Jalmari Helander has made Tarantino-like mash-up of “Inglourious Basterds” and “John Wick.” It’s real basic. And real good. If you like this kind of thing.
We’re quickly introduced to the hero of “Sisu,” Aatami (Jorma Tommila), a grizzled, Finnish ex-commando who’s out in the gorgeous, muted, multicolored wilderness of the Finnish outback, prospecting for gold.
Aatami (Jorma Tommila) panning for gold in the hinterlands of Finland, in “Sisu.” (Stage 6 Films)Like Keanu Reeves’s legendary hitman, this old coot has left his violent past behind. Both are widowers, men of few words who lead solitary existences, and who have cute dogs. Aatami and Wick are both vengeful former soldiers. You do not mess with these types of one-man death-squads or it’ll be the last thing you do.
Movie poster for “Sisu.” Note that the lettering style and female tableau are a tribute to the Quentin Tarantino poster below.Set in Finland, “Sisu” (the translation of which means something like “white-knuckle courage” but the essence of which means something more like the never-quit grit of American Navy SEALS) is, like Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” a hyper-violent, high body-count Nazi killing spree, where each Nazi-erasure has impeccable comedic timing, and garish, comic-book stylish chapter titles, such as “Kill ‘em All.”
As Nazi warplanes cruise overhead in deafening formation and flickering orange explosions light up the horizon, Aatami just keeps digging and sloshing earth in his prospecting pan. When he eventually strikes the mother-load, it’s an emotional experience; a whole new life becomes possible. Definitely not something he’ll lightly let go of.
(L–R) Nazi Obersturmführer Helldorf (Aksel Hennie), Wolf (Jack Doolan), and Schütze (Onni Tommila), in “Sisu.” (Stage 6 Films)A shot of Aatami’s body as he bathes in the freezing river, featuring acres of scar tissue, gives the audience to understand that the term “battle-scarred combat veteran” doesn’t quite do the situation justice, which is a Tarantino type of overstatement. We note a gold wedding band. Audio flashbacks of distressed voices and screams emphasize the man’s loss and the ruthlessness to come.
The nasty Nazi troops are beating a scorched-earth retreat from the remote reaches of Lapland in 1944, looting, raping, and hanging local inhabitants from telephone poles. They barely take notice of aforementioned old coot riding in the opposite direction on a horse.
However, when they inadvertently figure out he’s hauling multi-millions worth of massive gold nuggets in his saddlebags, they decide it’d be a good idea to relieve him of his sparkly burden. They know they’re losing the war and will all be subsequently hanged, and this old man’s gold is their ticket to freedom. Ohhhhh my goodness. Bad idea. Good luck parting this ex-commando from his hard-earned gold. You will lose many body parts first.
Aina (Mimosa Willamo, front and center in all-brown) is the leader of the Finnish women prisoners, kept in a truck for purposes of Nazi fun. Unfortunately for the Nazis, Sisu supplies the women with dead-Nazi weapons, in “Sisu.” (Stage 6 Films).As mentioned, this is basically a Third Reich revenge-fest straight out of the Tarantino playbook, albeit reduced and condensed to an almost exclusively physical narrative essence that’s as elemental and at least as violent as a Saturday morning Loony Toon episode.
Movie poster for Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 film, “Death Proof.”Director Helander has a natural flair for intense action and violent action viewed through a blackly comedic lens, that manages to fly within fairly outrageous story conceits. This results in a showcase of gleefully satisfying violence and quite thrilling action, set to an action score that mixes Nordic and Scandinavian folk music with a metal edge.
Nazi Obersturmführer Helldorf (Aksel Hennie) suspects the banging noise he hears outside his tank is his worst nightmare, in “Sisu.” (Stage 6 Films)“Sisu’s” the ultimate metal movie, Helander nails his “bullet ballets” with an hysterical deadpan delicacy. Supporting players like Nazi Obersturmführer Helldorf (Aksel Hennie) bring an admirable challenge, and the action is quite compelling.
One would have to say that “Sisu” is in very “bad taste,” but also very funny in a high testosterone capacity, often astoundingly well-crafted, and in its way more emotionally satisfying than one imagines other, more serious cinematic dissertations on man’s inhumanity will be in the coming year.
Movie poster for “Sisu.”‘Sisu’ opened at theaters nationwide April 28.
‘Sisu’
Director: Jalmari Helander
Starring: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars