My ranking of all the movies I saw in 2025 is here on Letterboxd. I find myself rather apathetic about writing up most of that list here, since John already covered a lot of my top 10 and Colin’s list is basically my remaining watchlist from the last year. So, in honor of the Mildly Pleased Awards which are probably not happening this year, here’s a write-up of my favorite movies from last year that aren’t those eighteen.
Was it too soon to go back to Pandora? The Way of Water came out at the end of 2022, 13 years after the original Avatar and showcased a generational leap, both in technology and the Sully family. Fire and Ash came out a mere three years later, and felt a lot more like Avatar 2 Part 2 than another jump into a new world. And although it cruised pass a billion at the worldwide box office like it was nothing, it might not cross the two billion mark (a feat even Zootopia 2 hasn’t accomplished) which allegedly has the future of the franchise in danger… again, allegedly, I don’t really buy that. But this is a very familiar arc for anyone who plays video games, where franchises often establish themselves in the first game, refine the formula in the second, and by the third have become a well-oiled machine (see: Fable III, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Mass Effect 3, I could go on).
But I haven’t heard a lot of people who actually saw Fire and Ash regretting spending three hours in 3D wonder. Did I expect another movie where so much hinged on the relationship between giant space whales and tall blue cat people? Not at all! Did I secretly want to spend more time with Payakan the exile? You bet. Also, against all odds and certainly in spite of some CHUNKY dialogue, I find myself oddly caring a lot about where the story of this family and the one guy who really hates them goes. There are some truly baffling moments in this one and I’m eager to see where James Cameron wants this to go in the next two sequels. Also, for the horndogs out there, this is definitely the sexiest of these movies… so far.
Kinda like we all feared, it was financially a mistake to give Chris McQuarrie the reigns of the Mission: Impossible franchise. This series thrived on reinvention and clearly audiences didn’t think McQ’s third and fourth entries into the series were “new” enough to see in cinemas. I would argue that there were even more forces acting against these movies’ success, but ultimately moviegoers don’t care about what happened behind the scenes. The thing that bums me out is that Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is still the best action movie that came out in 2025. It’s just wrapped in too much masturbatory “end of an era” bullshit for people to notice. The submarine sequence in this, especially in glorious IMAX, is the most thrilling thing I’ve seen probably since the pandemic, save for the biplane sequence which is also in this movie! Tom Cruise should have died like 50 times making this.
The not-so-secret secret sauce of the Beniot Blanc mysteries is that Daniel Craig is never actually the star of these movies. These movies belong to Ana de Armas, Janelle Monáe, and Josh O’Connor. And of those three, Josh O’Connor somehow is the most compelling lead yet, a new challenger for the throne of hot priest (lampshaded by Rian Johnson’s casting of Andrew Scott). Somehow I once again ended the year very much caring about Catholics against my better judgment. Father Jud’s phone call with Louise, a not-so-helpful receptionist played by Bridget Everett, was a moving reminder of just how powerful empathy and compassion can be. We’re all a bit lost in the sauce these days and it’s nice to get a reminder that we all need to wake up and stop worrying about all this petty bullshit. We’ll all be dead soon enough.
Speaking of death and faith! The Phoenician Scheme is the only movie stopping this top five from being entirely franchise movies (also because John already covered 28 Years Later), but maybe you could make the case that auteurs are their own kind of franchise? Benicio del Toro (from One Battle After Another and The Last Jedi) stars in this one as a wealthy businessman who has cheated death so many times he’s actually starting to think he might not be long for this world and maybe needs to change his ways. Or at least complete his biggest project ever. So he travels around the world with his only daughter and her tutor and meets a ton of colorful characters. If you’ve liked any of Wes Anderson’s movies since like the 2010s I think you’ll enjoy this movie. I thought it was one of his funniest, and a bit easier to understand than Asteroid City.
James Gunn’s Superman is not a perfect Superman movie or even the one I would have made given the opportunity and unlimited resources. But maybe it’s the one we needed? The most important thing is that it’s a Superman movie that doesn’t hurt my heart… actually the part at the end makes me so happy I cried a little bit. It’s not really an origin story, more of a hard launch of another cinematic universe which I know is something we all rolled are eyes at. But this feels pretty good? There were a ton of Marvel projects that came out in 2025 and I really didn’t find myself caring about any of them and yet I’m really excited for the HBO Green Lanterns show and the Supergirl movie. Much, much more excited than I am for another Spider-Man or even Avengers: Doomsday. I guess I’ve switched sides?
Not really, because ultimately the side I’m on is going to see entertaining movies in theaters. I saw a lot of schlock on the silver screen in 2025, usually movies that refer to a guy buy his job or title like The Accountant², The Amateur, or The Running Man. It’s just a nice way to spend time with my family every week. And it’s telling that, with all the big awards movies in theaters right now, my dad texted me this week that there wasn’t “any obvious titles to watch.” I may never convince my dad to go see movies like No Other Choice in the theater but something like F1? We were there the first Tuesday after opening weekend (gotta wait for the good deal).