Red Sonja (2025)

If you're nuts about sword and sorcery movies chances are you'll enjoy the new RED SONJA, which we were treated to a Bristol MegaScreen big screen showing of last night. The photography is frequently gorgeous, there are some nice bits of production design, and the world building is a lot of fun, suggesting a land filled with weird creatures and a world of men powered by arcane devices rather than magic. 

        It's the standard plot: all-powerful villain wants the thing, hero has to stop him getting the thing, with the help of an unruly but likeable band acquired during the journey, and if that's what you fancy then you'll be happy. However, if you want something a bit more, or if you're a fan of the Robert E Howard-inspired character from the books (and the comics, apparently), you may find yourself having less of a good time. 

The biggest problem with RED SONJA is the casting, in particular the lead. To play a Robert E Howard hero you ideally need both physical presence and the ability to evoke the magnetism necessary to have your audience believe you could be a leader in a brutal world of gods and monsters. Unfortunately Mathilda Lutz possesses neither in sufficient quantities to make her believable in the role. Of course it doesn't help that we are expected to accept her as a great warrior when she has seemingly spent most of her life faffing about in a forest with her horse. 

Similarly, Robert Sheehan, an actor I like a lot, has quite a bit of fun with his role as the evil Emperor but it's far harder to believe his character could have ascended to such a position on sheer graft alone, as opposed to Eddie 'Does it hurt, mother?' Redmayne's baddie in JUPITER ASCENDING who got there by birthright. Best sword 'n' sorcery performance of the entire film is Wallis Day as the evil Empress-to-be who plays it as mad and obsessed, frequently talking to the demons in her head when she's not whacking people with her massive swords. She's the only one in this film whose characterisation approaches that of the characters of Howard, Karl Edward Wagner et al and she would have been a much better lead, although presumably a less marketable one.

The fight scenes are good, the music needs the kick up its arse that most modern movie music does (do they not teach Jerry Goldsmith 101 in film music school anymore?), and while some reviews have called the film out over an overly long running time (close on two hours) I'll admit I enjoyed this sufficiently that I was surprised when it was obviously close to the end. 

        RED SONJA is going straight to digital in the UK which is a bit of a shame as, for all its faults, it looked fantastic on the biggest screen it is ever going to play on according to director and special guest MJ Bassett. It's nowhere near as good as Bassett's 2009 SOLOMON KANE which also played last night, also looked fantastic, and which I have always been happy to defend as one of the best sword and sorcery films out there. Having James Purefoy along for a Q&A with Bassett helped make the event special as well. If you're pining for something epic with swordplay and monsters RED SONJA may well fit the bill for a quiet evening, but don't expect too much. Here's the trailer:

MJ Bassett's RED SONJA is out on digital platforms from Signature Entertainment from Monday 18th August 2025. It's getting a Blu-ray and DVD release on Monday 8th September 2026