Film Review – Red Sonja (2025)

After the success of 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian,” plans were quickly put into motion to deliver a sequel and help expand the cinematic potential of writer Robert F. Howard’s literary creations with a spin-off. 1985’s “Ren Sonja” was intended to keep the world of Conan going, but it didn’t find an audience, who were offered a visually striking but largely inert fantasy adventure, while Brigitte Nielsen’s performance as the main character left much to be desired. Talk of returning to Red Sonja has been going on for decades, but now there’s another big screen pass at the character and her violent spirit, with actress Matilda Lutz (“Reptile,” “Magpie”) hired to bring the flame-haired warrior to life for director M.J. Bassett (“Rogue,” “Endangered Species”) and screenwriter Tasha Huo. The new “Red Sonja” has a plan for Hyborian Age action and adventure, but not a lot of resources to pull off the adaptation, which often struggles with low-budget visuals and a few critical miscastings. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com