Red Sonja

First I wish to say the main actress did an admirable job of acting and portraying the character, well enough to earn her creds.

The very, very obvious problem is that she was not physically made for the role. She was attractive enough, but not the buxom beauty that made Red's enemies regularly underestimate her. Most importantly, she didn't have the athletic / muscular build that would be required for the part. The choreography was poor to start with, but her lack of power and stamina made it that much worse, as she either obviously pulled her punches or didn't have much punch to start with.

Include in this repeated, repeated, repeated stabbing through plate armor and we have constant reminders of "plastic" Storm Trooper armor that wouldn't stop a stone shot from a slingshot. Pffft.

Typical story, highly predictable. At least it had a semi-twist ending that redeemed it a little. (No spoilers.) Sadly, this is a typical sword-adventure film with an unfortunately unconvincing lightweight main character. Kudos to the actress. She just needed a bit more meat on her bones and (to be blunt) a bit more cleavage to make the part convincing.

That said, I'll give kudos to the armor designer who eventually put her in something a little more stout than a barely-there chain mail bikini. A barbarian warrior with armor that at least covers her vital parts is far more sensible than the fan-service comic ever was.

M. J. Bassett's "Red Sonja" (2025) arrives on screen with a heavy burden of expectation, one it struggles to bear. The film attempts to resurrect the spirit of the 1985 cult classic, but the result is a pale imitation, lacking the raw, visceral energy that made the original so endearing, despite its flaws.

The narrative is a predictable and often sluggish affair, ticking off genre tropes without injecting any fresh perspective. The action sequences, while competently choreographed, lack a sense of genuine danger or weight, feeling more like a series of rehearsed movements than desperate battles for survival. The lead performance, unfortunately, fails to capture the fiery spirit of the titular character, leaving Red Sonja as a stoic and somewhat distant figure.

Is it worth watching? Only for die-hard fans of the source material or those with a deep sense of nostalgia. For everyone else, it's a pass.