- Directed by M. J. Bassett
- July 31, 2025 (Russia) / August 13, 2025 (US)
- Based on the character Red Sonja by Robert E. Howard as adapted by Roy Thomas
A nomad barbarian unites a group of unlikely warriors to topple a deadly warlord.
Why Red Sonja ‘25 failed at the box office I think is obvious within the first few minutes. Born of the Conan universe yet lack depth, this takes on a distinctly environmental message. Our movie opens with a young Sonja living with her mother in a very idyllic village where the local goddess shares her bounty with the people. It doesn’t seem too much is going on there but it is quite attractive to some random raiding party that bursts through the gates and apparently Red Sonja gets hit and then we flash forward to a few decades later, with her living in the forest with her horse who seems to have a level of intelligence focused largely on humor.
In contrast to the statuesque Brigitte Nielsen of the ’85 film, Matilda Lutz-as-Sonja looks positively tiny when in fight scenes against anybody and lacks a build that comes off as commanding when by herself on set. I have no problem with a woman or a physically smaller character taking on larger characters, but it needs to make sense. If a smaller character is going to beat the larger character, they either need to have a superior weapon or something that gives them an edge since their physique does not. There are numerous instances of Red Sonja getting in hand-to-hand combat and trouncing larger and physically better built men. Not with a sword or with a knife but with her fists and I have a little trouble with that. At least repeatedly.
It feels lazily written like director M. J. Bassett and writer Tasha Huo did not even try. Sonja sees the evil Emperor Dragan the Magnificent (Robert Sheehan), who gets called a ‘royal emperor’, attacking a village so she decides to intervene which causes her to be immediately captured and put in a pit. What we get there is Steven Seagal-movie-supporting-character talk meant to build up her character instead of showing mixed with ridiculous toughness that’s meant more for humor than for action which undermines the character.
While being held for gladiatorial combat, not only are the cells not separated by sex, but weapons are easily accessible. Segregating the holding area makes sense. From a logical view it also makes sense because you are expecting brutal people to be civilized. For the weapons there’s just a guy at a counter IN THEIR HOLDING AREA dispensing before they go fight. How does that make sense?
Dragan is about as threatening as a breeze and Robert Sheehan has no authority or charisma. Never menacing even. Sheehan’s evil look and evil face is that of a man who stepped in something gross or is offended because you did some minor social wrong. Then again Matilda Lutz is about as wooden as they get. They hired the most milquetoast of the milquetoast to center on what was intended to begin a franchise around.
A major issue I have with this movie is like so many movies these days the central character is already awesome. No heroic journey. No character growth. She’s already a great leader and a superior warrior. She just must decide to do it. It makes for a boring character and an even worse film. What exactly draws his people to follow her leadership? They just fall in line because she’s so awesome and gives a couple of pretty speeches.
Emperor Dragan is searching for a second half of a book and it also happens to be from the same tribe/village as Sonja. During the attack that devastated their world, a book was torn with him keeping half in his possession and the other half going to the members of the tribe and into hiding. The first half of the book contains all sorts of nasty things like a harness to control a spider which never gets used and some kind of energy source for what I don’t know. It just spins but never comes into use in the story.
A dangerous book that needs to be kept out of the hands of the villain? Solid if a bit derivative at times. The thing is when Dragan finally gets his hands on the second half of the book it turns out to have healing potions and other nice stuff in it. It’s a guide to local herbs and medicines showing the peaceful and loving nature of the tribe that it came from. So why do they have a guidebook on how to make pain harnesses and destructive technology? Don’t ask.
Annisia (Wallis Day) is an albino assassin working for Dragan. She takes a potion provided by Dragan to quiet her schizophrenia, but the potion is revealed to cause the schizophrenia so how was she convinced to take it in the first place? I cannot fathom why a harmonious people would have a tutorial on how to create some very harmful things in the revered holy book. And why is it considered a holy book?
Eventually, our hero gets mortally wounded but is brought to life by the forest goddess to save her people or something like that. Does she get enhanced strength or any special abilities? No, but they do repair the wound to the heart and make her hair a little more red so I guess there’s that. No need for special abilities to take on an army when you are already great!
Such things become a problem in any film because the supporting cast of characters become useless beyond being awed by the hero. They serve no purpose for the narrative. They are the cheering section for the character that the audience can never be since the character holds nothing to capture the imagination.
This pushes a live-in-harmony-with-nature theme and the strength of the feminine. Red Sonja is often strong though not because she steps up to the challenge but because she is just plain better than everyone else. Red Sonja ‘25 tries for depth and substance but often makes no sense and just kind of meanders around. A lot of contrivance and convenience move things forward rather than character growth or depth. Somehow hunting translates to combat skill.
The costumes border on something inspired by Xena: Warrior Princess or the Conan knock offs of the ‘80s. Special effects range from passable to cheap. There are better TV pilots that look better with better stories. Your mind will drift as you watch graphics beneath modern videogames or the cheapest mockbuster.
Sadly Red Sonja ‘25 is a joke and it doesn’t know it. It takes itself far too serious while having nothing worth taking seriously within it. Aiming for female empowerment while avoiding the ‘male gaze’ of the comics, it often has women in the same amount of fabric one might find on a swimmer at the beach.
This gets nothing right to such an extent you believe they were trying to get it all wrong. Bad dialogue, poor/cheap appearance, bland direction, and bland or one note characters create a movie with so much bad and so very little good. We have a very narrow swath of fantasy creatures but they exist to let everyone know this is a fantasy world. The monkey things that populate this movie I don’t think even get a name.
Rona Mitra shows up in this movie as a gladiatrix named Petra and looks like she’s going to be a significant character when introduced like the Obi-Wan of the movie where she will guide Sonja to her final heroic level but then the movie remembers Sonja is already awesome and I don’t know if the actress got sick of the material and walked or this was actually in the original script but she pretty much is mostly dumped from the story.
As a movie that Red Sonja ’25 feels like it belongs on the CW. It’s shallow and superficial. Nothing really means anything. They cast bland and inoffensive actors that would probably do well on teen oriented dramas but don’t have the gravitas or screen presence to pull off villainy or heroics.
Red Sonja is a bad movie that doesn’t make it even into good territory. It’s boring and not particularly good to look at. Not goofy enough to be entertaining and not serious enough to be engaging.
