Pulp fantasy is usually the domain of cheaply made and mediocre cinema, where the directors lack skill and the producers lack standards. M.J. Bassett’s Red Sonja, adapting the popular literary and comic book character, is no masterpiece – but at the same time it stands head-and-shoulders above the typical mediocrity of the genre. Script, direction, acting: everything is a cut above expectations, making this a fantasy adventure worth digging up following its American release this week.

Sonja (Matilda Lutz) is an orphaned young woman who is captured from the forest, enslaved, and forced to fight in the arena of the cruel Emperor Draygan (Robert Sheehan). After breaking free, Sonja launches a rebellion against her captor and fights to stop him from burning down the forests where she lives.

It is, as they say, hardly Shakespeare, but then does it really need to be? Red Sonja is a film packed to the brim with sword and fistfights, prophecies, deadly monsters, and supernatural fiends. In these circumstances, the screenplay (by Tasha Huo) ably structures itself to accommodate these varied attractions. It also finds room for smaller scenes of character, and some generally decent motivations and interactions. As noted earlier: it is a cut above expectations, and for a target market of sword-and-sorcery enthusiasts it represents slickly packaged entertainment on a modest budget. There are scenes – mainly involving fantastical creatures – where the film spends more than its budget can afford, but despite these limitations there is an earnest quality that lets such defects slide.

Director MJ Bassett is a seasoned hand at this sort of fantasy film, having previously adapted Robert E. Howard’s works to film in 2009’s Solomon Kane. Red Sonja feels like an improvement, and more assured. It is cleanly shot, albeit with a somewhat televisual feel. Sonya Belousova
and Giona Ostinelli’s musical score hews closely enough to other, more expensive films to court self-parody.

There is a good cast here too, which helps a lot. Matilda Lutz, who made a tremendous impression in Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge (2017), is very well cast in the title role, and goes a long way to make it her own. In fact, she is almost certainly the strongest element. Other cast members certainly know how to make an impact, particularly Wallis Day as the swordswoman Annisia, who is cursed by the ghosts of the lives she has taken.

This film has been a long time coming, bouncing from one production house to another since at least 2008. That it has emerged at last, and distributed via Samuel Goldwyn Films, is quite remarkable. It is not even the first Red Sonja to be adapted for film: that honour goes to Richard Fleischer’s 1985 attempt which, despite the presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger and a score by Ennio Morricone, remains perilously close to unwatchable. Not only is Bassett’s attempt watchable, it is actively enjoyable.

Fantasy is always a difficult genre for cinema: it rises in popularity every few years or so, and can occasionally make an impact with something truly special. Red Sonja is not that; not by a long way. It is rock-solid, competently made stuff. It will not win any mainstream plaudits, but for the faithful it represents a properly entertaining diversion.