Red Sonja

Cast View all

	Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz	Sonja
	Robert Sheehan	Draygan
	Wallis Day	Annisia
	Luke Pasqualino	Osin The Untouched
	Michael Bisping	Hawk
	Martyn Ford	General Karlak
	Eliza D'Souza	Amarak
	Danica Davis	Teresia
	Joana Nwamerue	Varla
	Manal El-Feitury	Ayala
	Ben Radcliffe	Daix
	Katrina Durden	Saevus
	Trevor Eve	Maester Crudelis
	Tim McMullen	Coltar
	Tihomir Vinchev	King Anzus
	Rhona Mitra	Petra
	Tony Way	Dane The Blacksmith
	Veronica Ferres	Sonja's Mother
	Diana Lyubenova	Hespera
	Dimo Alexiev	Saltus
	Kexin Wang	Martor
	Philip Winchester	Rathi
	Max Kraus	Larkan
	Urs Rechn	Captain Ranjokan
	Simon Feek	Commander Artran

Crew View all

Director	Michael J. Bassett
Writer	Tasha Huo, Robert E. Howard, Roy Thomas
Producer	Nick Barrucci, Michael J. Bassett, Christa Campbell, Dorothy Canton, Mark Canton, Jivko Chakarov, Boaz Davidson, Stephen Foreht, Joe Gatta, Jeffrey Greenstein, Lati Grobman, Samuel Hadida, Victor Hadida, Scott Karol, Shannon Kingston, Avi Lerner, Yariv Lerner, Luke Lieberman, Heidi Jo Markel, Elena Melamed, Tanner Mobley, Darina Pavlova, Lonnie Ramati, Sam Schulte, Cristina Serafini, Sebastian Serrell-Watts, Trevor Short, Gail Simone, Joe Smith
Musician	Sonya Belousova, Giona Ostinelli
Photography	Lorenzo Senatore

Trailer

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Notes

My quick rating - 4.4/10. Way back when, I was a fan of the 1985 Red Sonja, or at least a fan of Schwarzenegger swinging a sword while Brigitte Nielsen tried her best to look like she could cut down an army. That movie was a glorious mess, but it had a certain pulp charm. Fast forward forty years, and Hollywood has unsheathed the sword again, handing the role of the She-Devil to Matilda Lutz. The question is: can this reboot slice through the curse of its predecessor, or does it end up swinging wildly in the dark?

The movie wastes no time throwing Sonja into peril. After crossing paths with Annisia (Wallis Day), a tormented warrior with imperial ambitions, Sonja finds herself defeated, beaten, and quickly imprisoned by the scheming emperor, played by Robert Sheehan—last seen (by me, anyway) wisecracking through Umbrella Academy. Sheehan brings the same smarmy energy here, which helps, but the script doesn’t give him nearly enough to work with.

It’s during Sonja’s trial-by-monster that the film tips its hand: a cyclops fight straight out of the SyFy Channel’s B-movie archives. I couldn’t help but grin at its absurdity. Some will see it as a cheap distraction, but I found it oddly entertaining. The strange part is how the rest of the movie looks perfectly fine. The set design is solid, the effects are decent, and the world feels lived-in—so why this one scene feels like it was outsourced to bargain-bin CGI remains a mystery. “Uneven” is the best word for the visual presentation throughout.

Story-wise, it trudges along the expected path: imprisonment, escape, chase, rinse and repeat. The music does its absolute best to trick you into thinking you’re watching an epic with booming orchestral swells so triumphant I half-expected hobbits to show up. By the time the credits rolled, I was convinced my speakers had wandered off into Lord of the Rings territory.

The fight choreography is a letdown, often more sluggish than savage. For a film promising the most feared warrior woman of all time, the battles feel like rehearsals rather than climaxes. Sonja herself doesn’t help matters. Lutz is competent, but she never fully inhabits the character. Anger often comes across as mild irritation, and the costume doesn’t exactly flatter her presence—though the film at least has a sense of humor about that. “And that protects?” she asks. “Nothing, absolutely nothing, but the crowd will LOVE it.” At least they knew the audience might laugh with them, not just at them.

Curiously, the film sports an R rating despite violence that barely rises above PG-13 territory. No nudity, no profanity that stuck out, and the blood is minimal. Perhaps the MPAA was feeling generous that day. At 110 minutes, the pacing drags more than it drives, and it could have easily shaved twenty minutes without losing anything important.

Some will argue this reboot stands taller than the 1985 version. I’ll reserve judgment until I revisit that camp classic, but I’m skeptical. What I can say is that Red Sonja is not a disaster; it’s just a sword that doesn’t quite cut.

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