Red Sonja 2025 Movie Review
Matilda Lutz is suitably attractive and athletic. I believe she is capable of her various feats. She handles a sword well and is rough and tumble enough in the close physical encounters. The movie starts in an idyllic Hyrkanian village. The narration states something like “in an age before recorded history, known as the Hyborian Age, the Hrykanian people lived in peace under the watch of the Earth Goddess, Ashera.” Then, of course, they are attacked and slaughtered.
Unlike Conan the Barbarian 1982, the sacking of the village occurs off-screen (until some later flashbacks). After the attack the movie opens with Sonja waking up in a peaceful forest with food and water easily available. She playfully interacts with her horse. It is clear she loves her horse, not in a Catherine the Great way but in a Roy Rogers/Trigger way. Some not very realistic CGI warthogs (?) show up and get slaughtered. Our lady of the forest is disturbed by the hunters’ deed..
The villainous emperor is introduced. Aptly played by Irish actor, Robert Sheehan (probably best known as Klaus Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy). He is a man of science, not a wizard. He berates superstition and claims his rule will bring knowledge. His army consists of armored warriors, an (I think) anachronistic metal vehicle, baboon men, a giant scorpion, and he is also in the process of procuring a Cyclops.
Red Sonja is captured by his army. She is suitably rebellious and tries to escape immediately. She fails of course but wins the respect of her fellow captives. The captives are forced to become pit fighters. On her first appearance in the ring she wears the chainmail bikini in an ironic way. (Ironic or not, it looks good!)
The pit fights are not up to John Milius standards but are bloody enough though clearly restrained. Lutz does a believable job in her fights. A later fight with the Cyclops is pretty darn good. I won’t spoil how she turns the tables on the emperor after unleashing the monster.
There is a flashback scene of her mother and the ransacking of the village that reminded me of Thulsa Doom’s beheading of Conan’s mother and the separating hands scene… I’ll consider it a homage.
There are things I didn’t catch on this first and only viewing. The evil emperor is obsessed with finding more Hyrkanians because of a prophecy and learned tome. He is allied with an attractive witchy swordswoman who almost kills Sonja. (The horse and Ashera intervene.) The Baboon people remain a mystery to me. There is a scene with a Hyborian Map that isn’t quite the same as the one we all know. I wish I had a longer look.
The movie is a touch too slowly paced but you can’t expect DC/Marvel level action pieces on this kind of budget. But, all in all, I was satisfied. The story has some nice surprises. There is great cinematography and the musical score is suitably Poledourisian. The movie will be showing one night only on Wednesday, August 13th in major markets. Make the effort to go see it. I’ll be at the AMC Stonebriar in Frisco TX at the 8PM showing. Hope to see you there.
