In Review: Red Sonja (2025) – She-Devil with a sword

Synopsis: An adaptation of the comic book, Red Sonja, a vengeful warrior known as a “She-Devil with a sword”.

The Story

The movie opens with Red Sonja’s homeland of Hyrkania being attacked by barbarians. Having escaped, Sonja grows up in the forest, devoted to the goddess Ashera. When she tries to stop poachers supplying Emperor Dragan’s gladiator arena, she is captured and forced to fight. Dragan, who wields half of an ancient Hyrkanian book that grants destructive power, believes Sonja can lead him to the other half, hidden by Hyrkanian survivors.

In the arena, Sonja turns a controlled cyclops against her captors and escapes, destroying Dragan’s energy source in the process. She gathers allies, including fellow gladiators and rebels, while pursued by Dragan’s ruthless general Karlak and his unstable, haunted champion, Dark Annisia.

The Hyrkanians reunite with Sonja and reveal they hold the second half of the book, which is dedicated to healing and nature. A final battle follows: Sonja is mortally wounded but revived in a vision by Ashera. Returning with renewed strength, she confronts Dragan and learns his secret. In the end, both halves of the book are lost, but Sonja emerges triumphant, free to continue her journey.

Acting

In regard to the acting performances, I have to admit I was initially a bit taken aback by the casting of Matilda Lutz. At a little over 5ft 6, she isn’t the statuesque, Amazonian type you might traditionally expect in the role of Red Sonja. However, she grows into the part, and by the end of the movie she embodies the fiery She-Devil with a sword.

Robert Sheehan is fantastic as Dragan, the main villain of the story. Even when working with a script that feels clunky at times, he manages to inject energy and charisma, making his character memorable. Overall, the actors do a solid job of elevating the material, which has far more substance than the script for the cheesy 1985 movie ever did.

I also really enjoyed Trevor Eve’s performance as Maester Crudelis, Dragan’s chief of research and development, who masterminds the strange technology the Emperor wields. He gives the role a calculating edge that makes the character stand out among the supporting cast.

Wallis Day as Dark Annisia caught my eye too. I liked her mysterious, slightly sexy look, and she plays the haunted, unstable champion convincingly, adding tension and intrigue. Oliver Trevena as Karlak delivers a solid performance too, providing the cold, physical threat that Sonja needs to face.

Overall

Somehow, this movie hasn’t enjoyed a great deal of buzz, likely because it was caught between the premieres of Superman and Fantastic Four. I only became aware of it after accidentally coming across the trailer on YouTube about a week ago. Still, I’d recommend it to fans who can forgive a slightly clunky script and some inconsistent visual effects.

It’s clear the film was made on a fairly tight budget, but it manages to rise above that with a script that tells a decent origin story and features some strong performances from the cast. The effects are inconsistent at times, but never so much that they pull you out of the film. We’re certainly not talking Sharknado-level CGI here—it’s much better than that.

By the close of the film, things are set up nicely for a sequel, though I suspect that will only happen if it performs well on streaming and Blu-ray sales. Overall, it’s a far better film than the 1985 version, with much stronger acting performances too. It’s not the best movie I’ve seen this year, but it’s certainly not the worst either.