The Finnish superhero movie Rendel, created by director Jesse Haaja, was a straightforward attempt to build a basic urban vigilante feature, and even though it by no means conveyed any sense of originality in narrative or characterization whatsoever, it was at least entertaining. As an origin story, Rendel ticked all the trope checklists: witnessing the death of his family turns a common man into an masked avenging angel, one-man battles against a powerful criminal empire, grim and gritty treatment, and the darkened path of violence and vengeance doing a number on the psyche of the protagonist—all the expectations fans of the genre might have had were fulfilled.Â
However, the same cannot be said about its lackluster sequel, Rendel 2: Cycle of Revenge, which fails to convey any cohesive sense of direction from the beginning to the end. Leaving aside the problems with the plotline or characterizations, the movie cannot even follow and justify a plot point throughout the course of the narrative. Aside from the psychologically troubled protagonist, Rämö, who gets tormented by his demons, character writing is non-existent for the most part, and all of this contributes to a farcical production, to say the least. The production problems that led the director to end his filmmaking career are possibly the reason for this haphazard treatment of the sequel.Â
Spoilers Ahead
The Cursed Katana
The movie begins with a really cool animated sequence, as the narrative voice guides viewers through the scenes of Muromachi period Japan, a time when ronins, wandering loner samurais who served no daimyos, were abundant. Among them, the Tsujigiris were the most violent and unpredictable, and Kuro Fukushu, a dreadful samurai, was the fiercest among their ranks. This doomed ronin had a vicious killstreak, which included his own son as well, and the disgraced samurai ended his life by committing seppuku using his katana, the one he had used to wreak havoc on the lives of others. According to the legends, the katana turned black afterwards as it reflected the sin of its wielder, and it remained hidden thereafter. As the movie progresses, we learn Vala conglomerate chief Christopher Smiley Cox is after this sword—and apparently has a personal connection with it as well. It should be mentioned that the katana has been encased inside a stone for safekeeping.
Rendel’s New Target: Vala Chief Smiley Cox
After the animated prologue, the movie begins by introducing the sadistic, murderous Smiley Cox, the head of Vala, who runs his crime ring using the pharmaceutical company as a front. In the first movie, the malpractices of Vala in the form of releasing an untested vaccine with profiteering motives were discovered by Rämö, which led to the company targeting him on the suspicion of him being a whistleblower, and his wife and daughter paid the ultimate price as a result. A grief-stricken, traumatized Rämö molded himself into the brutal vigilante Rendel to avenge the deaths of his family and eliminate the members of Vala who were responsible for it. Mikkeli’s superhero Rendel’s war against Vala continues as he targets the head of the snake, Smiley Cox, who is already pretty riled up against the vigilante for causing major disruptions in his operations.
An unnamed little boy becomes a witness to Smiley’s viciousness as the kingpin, accompanied by his trusted associates, Fugu and Husky, murders the entire crew who delivered Kuro Fukushu’s katana to him from Japan. Traumatized, the kid runs away, and as Smiley takes notice, he sends his thugs to kill the boy, who get ambushed by Rendel. Fugu expresses her willingness to take Rendel head-on, but deeming the stone-fused katana to be more important, Smiley stops her from engaging. Rendel rescues the kid, who by now has lost his senses, by beating the living daylights out of Smiley’s thugs and taking him to the hospital. As the kid tries to initiate a conversation with him, he sees a reflection of his late daughter in him.
Smiley goes on to punish one of his deserter lackeys in his fighting pit by killing him in combat, and later it is revealed that he is forcing his scientists to concoct a resurrection serum to bring his late grandfather back to life. Smiley’s grandfather, Edward Cox, used to be a Yakuza boss back in the day and had managed to take complete control over the Japanese underworld by killing leaders of the rival gang. As a gesture of respect, the rest of the Yakuza clans gifted him the cursed katana of Kuro Fukushu. Edward Cox was obsessed with the idea of immortality, and after his death, his body was put in cryosleep. Smiley desperately wants to reawaken his grandfather, as he feels there is a secret connection Edward shares with the stone-fused katana, and he tests experimental serums created by his scientists on a number of hapless victims—to no avail.
Rendel Finds a New Ally in Kurikka
Smiley tries to manipulate people’s perceptions by putting the blame for the kid’s traumatic experience on Rendel and pretending to be a guardian figure to the kid to avoid suspicion. To his advantage, the kid has forgotten everything he saw that night and barely recognizes Smiley. The kingpin also brings the chief of police onto his payroll, instructing him to go against Rendel in exchange. Later, Smiley abducts a former Vala employee, Kurikka, to use as a test subject for his resurrection serum. Kurikka and Rämö share a history, as he was responsible for Rämö getting fired from his previous job and working as a Vala employee in the first place. Kurikka gets killed by Smiley’s scientists, only to be resurrected again with the serum sample, which finally proves to be effective. With Kurikka outliving his necessity, Smiley decides to kill him for good by drowning him in the waterfront.
From his trusted journalist acquaintance Niina, Rendel learns about Kurikka possibly being in danger, and later he spots Smiley and co. near the waterfront, drowning Kurikka alive. Nina observes the entire ordeal from afar, hoping to report the incident to the police. Rendel and Smiley square off for a bit, but with the authorities arriving, both parties flee. Rendel rescues Kurikka, who eventually becomes an ally, and gives his lair a makeover with the money Rendel had seized from the baddies previously. Later, Niina fails to convince the corrupt officer about Smiley’s actions, and the fact that they haven’t found Kurikka’s body doesn’t help her case either.
Throughout the movie, Rendel’s broken psyche constitutes a major part of his character. He blames himself for the death of his family, and his late daughter’s favorite fantasy heroine, Marla, becomes his alter ego when he needs to strengthen his resolve. Additionally, Rämö as a person is totally dominated by Rendel’s presence, to such an extent that his sense of self has been obliterated.
Niina once again meets Rendel and informs him that Vala’s illegal vaccines are about to make their way back to Finland after already taking over a number of Asian countries. At the same time, Smiley goes to the hospital to pay a visit to the kid (a witness to his crimes), and initially, in order to keep the kid from getting riled up, he shares his childhood stories, mentioning the bond he shared with his grandfather. However, as the kid begins to remember everything, Smiley subdues him and chokes him to death. Rendel, who had seen Vala enter the hospital, reaches too late, and he has no option but to tearfully mourn the loss of the kid.
Did Rendel finally put an end to the Vala Organization?
Infuriated and filled with a desire to take revenge, Rendel gets restless in his lair while awaiting an opportunity to strike at Smiley, and Kurikka helps him to compose himself, advising him not to go headfirst into a crisis situation and that he should bide his time. Kurikka mentions that Rendel can avenge the death of the child by taking down Smiley when the opportunity arrives. In the meantime, Smiley decides to get rid of the snoopy journalist Niina, and Huskey manages to lure her into infiltrating the Vala headquarters for a scoop. Kurikka, who had installed surveillance systems connected with Rendel’s rig across the city, notices Niina walking straight into the lion’s den and warns Rendel about the situation. Kurikka goes with Rendel as well to assist him.
Meanwhile, Smiley resurrects his grandfather, Edward Cox, using the serum, who helps him open the stone-encased katana by using his blood. Rendel arrives at the nick of time to protect Niina from Smiley’s thugs, and a prolonged battle ensues. As Rendel/Marla runs a gauntlet through them, Fugu appears to square off with him. After trading significant blows, the fight ends in a stalemate, and Fugu decides to leave the scene as abruptly as she had appeared. Rendel takes cover in a room where a resurrected Edward Cox tries to kill him, but as his connection with the serum gets severed, the founder of the Vala organization finally breathes his last.
Smiley appears and injects a heavy dose of anesthetic into Rendel’s body, knocking him out in the process. As Smiley tries to pry open Rendel’s tar-infused mask and torture him to death, inside Rämö’s subconscious and his own personality, Marla and Rendel tussle to gain dominance. Smiley decides to kill Rendel in combat, takes him into the fight pit, and orders Fugu’s capture. Smiley reveals that he is aware of the fact that Fugu, aka Catherine Fukushu, is a descendant of the legendary ronin Kuro Fukushu, who allied herself with Smiley to get a hold of her family heirloom, the cursed katana. Meanwhile, Niina informs the authorities, who surround Vala headquarters from outside to capture Rendel, and Kurikka manages to distract them for the time being. During the battle in the pit, an injured, sedated Rendel struggles to hold his ground at first, but eventually his Marla personality gains strength and allows him to counter Smiley’s attacks. Smiley finally decides to use the cursed katana on Rendel’s mask, and to his surprise, the katana breaks, allowing Rendel an opening as he takes the broken katana to kill Smiley then and there.
Husky, Smiley’s right-hand man, is impressed by Rendel’s bravery and strength, and Rendel decides to return the broken katana to Catherine. A limping Rendel leaves Vala headquarters, and the movie ends with Smiley’s thugs chasing him outside. Rendel has successfully avenged the deaths of his family and the poor kid, saving the lives of many others as well. With the head of the snake cut off, Vala will perish as an organization in no time.