After decades in Development Hell, this redo of the old Brigitte Nielsen flick found its way to the screen with director MJ (Silent Hill: Revelation) Bassett at the helm. It’s a much more serious (and bloody) treatment of the character this time around. While I sort of missed the goofy antics of the original, this is a perfectly acceptable, if a tad bland, interpretation.
Sonja (Matilda Lutz from Revenge) is a nature loving warrior woman who does battle with anyone who desecrates the sacred forest. A fey emperor named Draygan (Robert Sheehan) is laying waste to the wilderness in search of a mystical book. Sonja steps in to stop him and is promptly thrown into a gladiator pit for her troubles. She eventually leads a revolt, and with her former gladiators by her side, sets out to protect her home from the emperor’s legions.
Lutz is the reason the film works as well as it does. She imbues the character with the toughness the character requires, but it’s the subtle hints of humanity that prevents her portrayal from feeling cliched. I liked the early scene where she discovers poachers have slain animals only for their trophies. The best moments come courtesy of the funny comic relief shtick with her horse, which plays like something out of a Spaghetti Western.
The supporting cast is solid too. Sheehan is appropriately whiny as the sniveling villain. My favorite bit was when he gets excited that his men have found a cyclops to join his army. Wallis Day cuts a striking image as the sexy white-haired warrior who acts as Draygan’s right hand woman. Rhona Mitra also has some nice moments too as a gladiator woman that Red refuses to fight.
Overall, this is pretty standard stuff, but it’s watchable in a lazy Sunday afternoon entertainment kind of way. It kinda lands closer to Xena: Warrior Princess than Conan, although that’s mostly because the budget wasn’t quite high enough to meet the film’s aims. As a consequence, the CGI and greenscreen effects run the gamut from decent to wonky. Some establishing shots of arenas and castles resemble cut scenes from a video game too. The pit battle with the aforementioned cyclops starts out fine, but it winds up feeling rushed and anticlimactic.
That said, it’s enjoyable for the most part. Red Sonja meets its quota of no-frills sword and sorcery shenanigans. For many, that will be enough.
Bassett also directed an adaptation of another Robert E. Howard character, Solomon Kane.
No comments:
Post a Comment