Red Sonja
Director MJ Bassett's Red Sonja is a bit of a mixed bag that makes several decisions about Sonja and her world that drastically limit the character's effectiveness on-screen. The first choice is to offer a tragic origin story but somehow not allow for Sonja's communion with a god granting her the fighting skills necessary to take her revenge until the end of the movie. The choice leaves Sonja a capable warrior for much of the film but far short of the larger-than-life She-Devil with a Sword who has entranced readers for more than 50 years.
The film casts Italian model and actress Matilda Lutz who is capable enough in the dramatic scenes, and obviously trained hard for the physicality the role requires, but her smaller frame makes it hard to impose Sonja's larger-than-life stature on-screen. Although we get the metal bikini, most of the character's overt sexuality is absent. And her version of the character also lacks both the bawdy and comedic nature of Red Sonja that, in the comics, helps balance out the horrors she endures. The only moment we see a glimmer of this version of Sonja is in the film's short epilogue teasing a sequel that will likely never come.
The film's limited budget also curtails the larger fantasy and horror trappings that can be brought to bear in recreating Sonja's world from the comics. Although we do get a battle with a Cyclops, most of the movie is Sonja in chains fighting other gladiators or soldiers.
Our villains too are a mixed bag as we get the mad emperor Draygan (Robert Sheehan) and his equally crazy consort Annisia (Wallis Day). Both may be cruel and crazy, but neither are menacing enough to be taken seriously. The twist to tie Sonja and Draygan's stories together at the end also falls mostly flat. As for the rest of the cast, the soldiers Sonja kills or the gladiators she befriends, most are completely forgettable (as is ultimately the film which spends far too much of its time with Sonja caged, both literally and figuratively).
- Title: Red Sonja (2025)
- IMDb: link
