Robert Rodriguez's promo posters for Red Sonja are beginning to bug me. Well, one of them is, since the one with Rose MacGowan sitting on a bunch of badly rendered skulls is pure Frazetta - old school Sonja, having a bit of a rest after (doubtless) loads of cutting her enemies in twain.

That Sonja, I recognise. But who is the passive, doe-eyed Raunchlette licking that very phallic sword in the full-face poster? If that graphic had any more passive porno-chic vibe to it, any more sense of utter wank-fantasy submission, it would belong to the type of movie that is generally about 30-45 minutes long; the kind of movie whose target audience never even gets near the credits.

Is Robert Rodriguez's take on the transmogrified Robert E. Howard heroine going to be a glossy skin-flick? Much as Rodriguez enjoys showing off the lineaments of girlfriend and Sonja star Rose McGowan (as he did to notable effect in Planet Terror), I'm inclined to believe that he is going to have a fair bit of action in the film. I mean, apart from that kind of action. So why make such a poor initial statement of intent?

Honestly, the sword-licking picture has the kind of utter cluelessness about the source character that is frequently demonstrated by convention Vampirellas, who smile cheesily or try and try and express the mystique and fascination of the character they are playing with a bit of choice brooding.

Don't get me wrong - Red Sonja is a sexy character, and Rose McGowan is a sexy woman. This is not the story of Queen Boadicea, and not a part for Julianne Moore (even if the hair is right in advance), although it may nonetheless challenge McGowan's range.

But Mr. Rodriguez: if you're going to make a kick-ass sword and sorcery flick with the hottest and most violent female warrior in fiction, start as you mean to go on and jettison the porno/submissive sex vibe. That's not the particular kink that this character tends to leverage, and Sonja herself would have your head flying through the air in seconds for suggesting otherwise.

I'll put it as simply as I can...