Red Sonja (2025) Review
Red Sonja (2025) Review
Matilda Lutz is a badass barbarian on a mission in this action fantasy based on the best-selling comic series. Enslaved by an evil tyrant who wishes to destroy her people, barbarian huntress Red Sonja must unite a group of unlikely warriors to face off against Dragan the Magnificent and his deadly bride, Dark Annisia.
I was never a fan of the lacklustre 1985 Brigitte Nielsen RED SONJA flick that co-starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was still fresh from two sword-and-sorcery cinematic outings as Conan in both CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) and CONAN THE DESTROYER (1984). So when I was approached by the film’s marketing team to review this 2025 release based upon the same character created by Robert E. Howard I was not exactly anticipating to be enthralled and entertained but surprisingly I was and even more surprisingly, for me at least, I find myself warmly recommending it.
Director M.J. Bassett’s 2025 film arrives after many years and many other attempts to bring RED SONJA back to film. Robert Rodriguez was attached to direct at one point with Rose McGowan to star, then director Simon West with Amber Heard, followed then by director Bryan Singer and finally director Joey Soloway. And now here it is 2025’s version of RED SONJA. It has a lower budget – which may irk those anticipating state of the art special effects and production values – but for it works in the film’s favour, along with a suitably rousing score from Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli, it evokes memories of a bygone time when entertainment value trumped spectacle.
The script is pitch perfect in terms of delivering the kind of dialogue one would expect from a sword-and-sorcery flick and the cast gamely deliver their otherwise potentially hammy-sounded lines dead straight rather than ruin them by throwing in a knowing wink or giving the line a comic slant. Matilda Lutz is perfection as RED SONJA both stoic and heroic and a lead character you both warm to and cheer on to triumph over the bad guys. Snobbier critics and those that like their spectacle to be bigger-budgeted may look down their collective noses at M.J. Bassett’s film but for my money RED SONJA does exactly what a good sword-and-sorcery flick should do, it enthrals, it entertains and it reminds one of a time when films were about telling a good story without the unnecessary frills and it leaves you smiling come the film’s end and left with a warm and fuzzy vibe.
RED SONJA is available on Digital HD August 18 and DVD & Blu-ray 8 September. Distributed by Signature Entertainment
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