Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues (on Hoopla)

Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues
[Hoopla Downloadable Movie] 

I’m quite a Red Sonja fan, so I was looking forward to seeing this, but didn’t know what to expect. The animation, if you want to call it that, felt like moving paper cutouts around and filming them. Not everyone will like this but I didn’t mind. One of Red Sonja’s foes in this movie is a former friend who is haunted by ghosts of those she and Sonja were forced to fight in a Colosseum of sorts while they were both imprisoned. There is also a plague ailing the city Sonja is trying to defend from her former friend, and it turns out there is someone unexpected behind it all. I thought the story was fairly good and there were enough flash backs to know the backstory to Sonja and her former friend. The major discussion point of this movie to me is that the dialog came across as comical and I don’t think it was intended to be. Sometimes what they said was so out of place and character it was funny and sometimes it was how said it. This sort of thing would occur in serious conversations but made me laugh out loud anyway; somehow this was not irritating to me but I think easily could be. While I’ve read plenty of Red Sonja, Marvel and Dynamite, I have not read the comics this is based on so that may influence one’s perception, as is the case anytime you read the book then see the movie. If you have little to no exposure to Red Sonja, this could easily spoil your view of her, so see my recommendations below for better introductions to her character. I wouldn’t say this film is for everyone, (I’m not too sure I’ll even watch it again), but if you like movies that try to be serious and fail miserably, then this may be for you.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Red Sonja comics, also on Hoopla: Red Sonja: Vulture’s Circle, Red Sonja: The Black Tower or The Chronicles of Conan Vol 4: The Song of Red Sonja and Other Stories] [Also available in traditional print format.]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Red Sonja: Queen of Plagues web site ]

Recommended by Kristen A.
Gere Branch Library

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