Bikini-Clad Warrior Back in Dull Spin on ’80s Film

A new cinematic adventure fantasy revolving around the iconic female warrior character doesn’t have much to live up to, considering that the 1985 version starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t exactly beloved even among genre fans. Which makes it all the more disappointing that MJ Bassett’s version turns out to be so lackluster, especially considering that its star, Matilda Lutz, proved so impressive in 2017’s equally physically demanding and skin-baring Revenge (directed by future Oscar nominee Coralie Fargeat).

Hampered by the sort of low-budget production values that make it seem more suited for cable television, Red Sonja is receiving a one-night theatrical release before being made available on VOD. Although even that may be too ambitious a rollout.

To answer the obvious question first, yes, Lutz’s Red Sonja does wear the iconic chainmail bikini while fighting gladiator-style, which, let’s face it, doesn’t offer a lot of bodily protection. But in a nicely feminist twist, she’s self-conscious about it. And she ditches it as soon as she can, even if her subsequent outfits are scarcely more concealing.

At the story’s beginning, Sonja is living a contented life, frolicking in the forest with her loyal pet horse and co-existing peacefully with a variety of CGI prehistoric creatures. But her happiness abruptly comes to an end when she’s captured and made prisoner by the Emperor Dragan the Magnificent (Robert Sheehan, The Umbrella Academy), whose venality is made readily apparent by his moniker. She’s confined in a large pit with her fellow rebels, including a nominal love interest, the highly self-regarding Osin the Untouched (Luca Pasqualino), whom the other ladies describe as “a tasty morsel” and “a royal feast.”

As is to be expected in stories of this sort, Sonja is forced to fight for her captors’ amusement. But when she refuses to engage with her fellow prison Petra (a welcome Rhona Mitra, who disappears from the film far too early), her moral stance doesn’t end well. Later, she’s made to fight a giant horned cyclops, whom Dragan summons with what looks like a flashlight, and manages to turn the tables by convincing the fearsome creature of who his real enemies are.

The backstory behind this long-aborning project turns out to be more interesting than what’s onscreen, with the screenplay by Tasha Huo leaning heavily into genre tropes while providing the sort of dialogue that would have seemed silly even millenniums ago. When Sonja and Osin are forced to separate, she advises, “Stay alive, Prince Osin of Shem. One day I will claim my prize.” Dragan entices his long-suffering paramour Annisia (Wallis Day) to pursue the rebellious Sonja by promising, “Bring me her head, and you will be my empress.” And when Sonja finally unveils her signature locks, Osin definitely notices. “You’ve done something to your hair,” he says. “I like it!”

Of course, fans don’t see these sorts of movies for the dialogue, but rather the swordfight scenes which are delivered in ample amounts, including one apocalyptic battle that takes place amid both pouring rain and massive fires. At one point, Lutz’s Sonja receives a presumably fatal stomach wound (much as the actress did in Revenge, weirdly), but manages to survive thanks to an intervention by her heavenly mother (a suitably ethereal Veronica Ferres).

Although she lacks the imposing height and fierce muscularity of Nielsen, her predecessor in the role, Lutz makes up for it with impressive physicality and excellent thespian skills, the latter of which come in handy while she’s striving to keep a straight face during the absurd events here. Although even these fail her in the final moments involving an emotional encounter with Dragan, when it’s revealed that he’s not really so evil but rather scarred from having been traumatized as a little boy. Needless to say, the attempt at psychological depth doesn’t come off.

This Red Sonja deserves credit for incorporating some feminist and even ecological themes into its fantasy world mix, but it’s not enough to compensate for the overall cheesiness and, worse, dullness of the overly long proceedings.