Forty years after her first and only movie adaptation, Marvel Comics’ Red Sonja returns with a new live-action reboot from director M.J. Bassett (Solomon Kane, Rogue). While Richard Fleischer‘s much-maligned 1985 pulp fantasy film, starring Brigitte Nielsen and Arnold Schwarzenegger, has a cult following, the character’s cinematic absence has been too long. Now, Red Sonja exists more as a comic book icon (spearheaded by the great Gail Simone in recent years) than as any kind of movie hero. This remake seeks to rectify that, delivering a version of the character that’s both true to her roots and refreshingly compelling.
Red Sonja (Matilda Lutz) doesn’t soften her ferocity in the 2025 film adaptation, maintaining her cultural status as a fiery warrior shaped but not defined by pain. However, this reimagining of the titular barbarian huntress also offers a relatable amount of vulnerability. M.J. Bassett’s approach, coupled with a screenplay by Tasha Huo (Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft), benefits from avoiding tiresome “fearless woman warrior” clichés. In this world, Sonja’s gender isn’t treated as a special narrative obstacle for the most part. Instead, the script leans into an elemental struggle between the balance of nature and the greed of those who seek to strip it away.
A Villain Worthy of the Legend
The fantasy setting of Red Sonja (2025), with its sabre-toothed creatures, cyclopes, man-beast hybrids, and Lord of the Rings-esque weathered warriors, resonates with something urgent and real: a theme of environmental stewardship. Sonja isn’t just hellbent on toppling a tyrant — she’s fighting to preserve the natural order against a crusading villain’s vision of a “better” world through destruction of the old. That villain is Emperor Dragan the Magnificent (Robert Sheehan), a self-styled disruptor whose arena of bloodsport and village conquests serve as both personal amusement and a platform for propaganda. Sheehan, best known from Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, lends Dragan a sly complexity that prevents him from being a simple sneering despot.
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Dragan’s defiance of the gods, genuine moments of excitement and despair, and his manipulative marriage to the deadly Annisia (Wallis Day) make him as fascinating as he is loathsome. He’s as quick to coo over a new beast for his arena as he is to casually commit an act of cruelty, often with unnervingly playful charm. Abducted from her isolated forest home and forced to fight for Dragan’s entertainment, Sonja is introduced as a survivor rather than a fully-formed warrior. Her fighting prowess is raw and purely instinctual. “Imagine if she knew what she was doing,” a fellow prisoner marvels as she dispatches guard after guard.
These kinds of physical and emotional blemishes are a welcome departure from more straightforward invincible takes on the character.
This Red Sonja Remake Bolsters Its Action with Tons of Heart
This Sonja bleeds, stumbles, and doubts. Ultimately, it’s her empathy and defiance that inspire others to rise with her — in addition to her talent for chopping heads. The arena sequences are some of Red Sonja‘s most astonishing feats, especially given the production’s relatively smaller budget. Dragan’s cliffside coliseum is incredibly imposing, making victories and executions alike feel monumental. Filmmaker M.J. Bassett stages these scenes with a Gladiator-like sense of grit and spectacle, throwing in subversive action beats to keep the audience hooked. Likewise, a pivotal nighttime forest battle, set against rain and fire and capped by Sonja’s faithful horse literally saving her life, lands as one of the best action sequences of the year (yes, really).
That bond with Sonja’s horse becomes one of the story’s strongest threads. In a cinematic landscape where animal companions are usually treated as CG props, M.J. Bassett and Matilda Lutz appropriately make the horse feel like part of the main cast. It fits neatly into the film’s thematic reverence for nature, a quality that Red Sonja herself embodies. She thanks each animal she kills for food, prays to a goddess carved into a living tree, and treats the forest itself as an ally and protector.
Friends and Foes Galore
Sonja’s quest kicks into motion not with personal vengeance, but with the harrowing aftermath of poachers’ work. This opening incident presents genuinely affecting imagery that evokes the real-world plight of many endangered species, aligning closely with this director’s past work. Similarly, the supporting cast is given room to grow past archetypes. Wallis Day (Krypton, Batwoman) as Dark Annisia, though underserved in terms of screen time, remains one of the most engaging figures. In the comics, she and Red Sonja are sisters-in-arms turned bitter rivals, haunted by the horrors they have endured together. Here, Day chews up the scenery as Dragan’s weaponized enforcer/bride, driven half-mad by the ghosts of her victims in a respectable nod to the source material.
Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
Martyn Ford (Mortal Kombat II) boasts an extremely intimidating screen presence as General Karlak, a towering baboon-faced hybrid rendered with impressive prosthetic makeup, and gets his own subtle arc for those paying attention. Fellow prisoners Hawk (Michael Bisping) and Petra (Rhona Mitra) add welcome grit and camaraderie to Sonja’s journey. Meanwhile, the self-proclaimed Prince Osin (Luca Pascualino) provides an additional note of levity and wit, refusing to be boxed in as merely another fantasy side character.
Matilda Lutz’s Commanding Lead
Matilda Lutz (Revenge, Magpie) proves herself an inspired choice for the title role, balancing the steel and tenderness that define Sonja. She can sell a grimy, bruised pit fight as easily as she can a moment of prayer or a bittersweet song of her people. There’s a credibility to her physicality, but also a believable spark of humanity that keeps the character from becoming a distant warrior goddess. M.J. Bassett’s direction capitalizes on Lutz’s strengths as a seasoned genre veteran. Lutz keeps the pacing taut, the stakes clear, and the fantastical environment tactile even when the budget constraints edge toward the iffy side.
Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films
Yes, some establishing shots and notable effects betray the production’s limitations. The movie meets you halfway, though; if you’re willing to meet it on its own terms, of course. Red Sonja is a pulpy fantasy adventure that embraces its tropes without becoming trapped by them, often finding clever angles to twist familiar setups. From a technical standpoint, certain set pieces, such as a mystical waterfall or the aforementioned arena, truly stand out as cinematic wonders.
Where the Blade Lands
Sonya Belousova and Giona Ostinelli’s (One Piece, The Witcher) score is a major asset, lending an epic sweep to the film’s biggest moments without overpowering its smaller, more intimate beats. Whether underscoring a monster battle or a quiet exchange between allies, the music amplifies the visual scale and emotional charge. By the time the credits roll, Bassett and company have crafted something that — much like its 1985 predecessor and the comic character herself — will likely carve out a cult following rather than a blockbuster success. It’s rough around the edges in terms of its independent production, yet unafraid to inject sincerity into the sword and sorcery template.
In an era when fantasy movies are either too self-serious or self-parodying, this Red Sonja reboot strikes a unique middle ground. It’s colorful without being cartoonish, thematically resonant without being preachy or indirect, and willing to embrace vulnerability alongside valor. Matilda Lutz’s Sonja is a hero worth following into battle, and M.J. Bassett’s vision leaves you wanting to see where she rides off to next. For a character who’s waited four decades to return to the big screen, this is a larger-than-life, bloody, and beautifully earnest reintroduction. I suspect many will come around to embrace this interpretation of Red Sonja and her world. Just remember that I enjoyed this before it was cool!
Red Sonja hits theaters for one night only on August 13 and will be available on Digital on August 29!
Release Date: August 13, 2025.
Directed by M.J. Bassett.
Written by Tasha Huo.
Based on characters created by Robert E. Howard, as adapted by Roy Thomas.
Produced by M.J. Bassett, Christa Campbell, Mark Canton, Joe Gatta, Jeffrey Greenstein, Lati Grobman, Avi Lerner, Yariv Lerner, Luke Lieberman, Courtney Solomon, Les Weldon, & Jonathan Yunger.
Executive Producers: Nick Barrucci, Dorothy Canton, Boaz Davidson, Scott Karol, Hedie Jo Markel, Tanner Mobley, Darina Pavlova, Trevor Short, Joey Soloway, John Thompson, & Robert Van Norden.
Main Cast: Matilda Lutz, Wallis Day, Robert Sheehan, Michael Bisping, Martyn Ford, Eliza Matengu, Veronica Ferres, Katrina Durden, Rhona Mitra, Manal El-Feitury, Kate Nichols, & Danica Davis.
Cinematographer: Lorenzo Senatore.
Composers: Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli.
Production Companies: Millennium Media, Cinelou Films, Mark Canton Productions, Nu Boyana Film Studios, & Dynamite Entertainment.
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films.
Runtime: 110 minutes.
Rated R.
