2025 Summer Movie Preview/Review

Howdy! Did you miss me? Had a lot going on, and I may (or may not) go back and try to get caught up. But seeing as how 2/3 of the summer – from a movie perspective – is over, I thought I should finally get a preview up, and give super quick reviews of the ones we’ve already seen.

May 2025

• Thunderbolts* (May 2) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: Better than expected. First half to 2/3 very fun, last 1/3 very serious, deep, and emotionally impactful if it’s something you’ve ever experienced. And if not, maybe it can help you understand those who have. (Yes, I’m being intentionally vague. If you’ve seen it and don’t know what I’m talking about, feel free to message me.)
• Juliet & Romeo (May 9) – Impressive cast for this pop music (modern language) take on the Shakespearean tale.
• Jane Austen Wrecked My Life (May 23) – Looks like it will be one of those delightful tiny British/European rom-coms that the US doesn’t make anymore. Half in English and half in French (with subtitles), if that matters to you.
• Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (May 23) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: Eh. It was okay. Of the two (Dead Reckoning and Final Reckoning), the first one was far better, IMO. Far too long, but still worth seeing to wrap things up.
• Lilo & Stitch (May 23) – Another life action remake. It’s getting decent buzz/reviews. Be aware that certain story points have been changed, and viewers seem to be split about 50/50 on whether they like them or hate them.
• Karate Kid: Legends (May 23) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: Not a great movie, but certainly one of the most enjoyable ones we’ve seen this summer so far. Struck the right balance between nostalgia/reflection and new stuff.

June 2025

• The Life of Chuck (June 6) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: What an unexpected movie! Extremely well done. Not scary at all (if you’re worried about the Stephen King aspect). Rated R for language only, nothing else. Best if you go in “cold” without knowing much about it. You’re probably going to be confused at first, and that’s okay (kind of the point, really). Just hang in there. All will be revealed.
• How to Train Your Dragon (June 13) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: It was fine. Nearly identical to its predecessor, so I’m not sure why they bothered, though it was clear that the only other people in the theater with us had not seen the original, so maybe that was the point. I prefer the animated version, but this one is fine.
• Materialists (June 13) – **MovieMuse Super Short Review: I thought it was just okay right after, and the more I think about it, the more it annoys me. And if those are the best things I can say after seeing a a movie with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal, you know the film has issues.
• Elio (June 20) – The latest offering from Pixar. Looks like the typical sweet and heartfelt film that they usually produce, but it’s not getting any traction at the box office. (And if I told you that it was originally released on Disney+ before now, please note that I WAS WRONG! I was thinking of Luca.) There doesn’t seem to be a definitive reason why, so not sure what’s up. That said, we haven’t seen it yet. Maybe this coming weekend, we’ll see.
• Bride Hard (June 20) – Didn’t know anything about this movie, and it’s still not my kind of movie, but after watching the trailer and then seeing the reveal of the title, I couldn’t help but laugh. Honestly, knowing it’s a Rebel Wilson movie with that title explains pretty much everything you need to know to decide if you’re interested or not. (I won’t see it, but the perfection of the title and the laugh it caused me rated a mention.)
• F1 (June 27) – Formula 1 racing movie starring Brad Pitt. The cinematography/filming of the races looks like it will be worth seeing on the big screen, if nothing else. As in, we’re probably going to try and catch it on IMAX.

July/August 2025

• Jurassic World: Rebirth (July 2) – Yes, another one. They’re certainly pulling out all the stops. The effects look amazing, and the cast is pretty stellar. But the last one was so disappointing, I’m hesitant to get my hopes up for this one.
• Superman (July 11) – Y’all, I am having a really hard time liking this one based on the trailers. So many little things that are just rubbing me the wrong way. We’ll see it, and we’ll give it a chance. I think Nicholas Holt will be an amazing villain! But I have numerous concerns about other casting and the plot in general. Let’s hope they can pull it off. I genuinely hope my misgivings are unfounded!
• Eddington (July 18) – This movie looks wild. Is it a pandemic drama, is it a western, is it social commentary? Looks like a little bit of all of that. Astonishing cast (including Pedro Pascal; this makes 3 films *and* Season 2 of The Last of Us all out in a 4 month span), but can they pull it off? Cannes reviews are decidedly mixed, ranging from love to hate and everywhere in between.
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps (July 25) – Another movie I have concerns about. To be honest, the casting of Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards gives me pause, which should concern everyone, particularly Marvel! Like Superman, I genuinely hope to be proven wrong! They’ve got all the right pieces in play. Let’s just see if they can pull it off. I truly hope they can, for everyone’s sake.
• Star People (July 25) – She witnessed a possible UFO sighting as a child and heard “a voice.” Now grown, the lights and the voice are back. But what does it mean? Looks interesting and sufficiently suspenseful. Just need to know how scary it might be. Needs further investigation.
• The Bad Guys 2 (Aug 1) – The first film was unexpectedly decent. We didn’t think we would like it and had zero expectations, so it was a pleasant surprise in that respect. Not great, but far better than anticipated. Again, similar concerns going into the second one, but the first one worked out okay, so it’s on the “maybe list” for us.
• Freakier Friday (Aug 8) – Worth mentioning only because it seems that they got nearly the entire cast back for this “legacy sequel” 22 years later. I didn’t see the first one, but the fact that so many people came back (at least 10 people) I think says something about how much they all enjoyed the experience, so I might have to check it out (both the first one and the sequel). We’ll see.
• Weapons (Aug 8) – Children from the same school class walk out of their homes on the same night and vanish, but why? Exceptional cast! Whether or not I will see it depends on which side of the thriller/horror line it falls on.