The Movies of 2025: Q3
September 29, 2025 - Movies
I've really only got four movies of note from the third quarter of 2025. Here goes.
The Old Guard 2
When I saw that a sequel had dropped, I went back and watched the original film The Old Guard, which I'd already seen twice. It was better than I'd remembered. Charlize Theron is so good in an action film.
Like the Highlander films, this sequel expanded the universe in unnecessary ways and overall wasn't up to the quality of the original. Still a fun little movie, but not exceptional like the original The Old Guard.
Superman
A mixed bag for me. And while I'll maintain that Christopher Reeve is still the best Superman, David Corenswet did a better job than most. I'll give him number three, just behind Brandon Routh.
Nicholas Hoult did a great Lex Luthor, I really liked Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Pruitt Taylor Vince did a very good Pa Kent, who is still alive now for some reason? Also, Rachel Brosnahan's Lois Lane was good, but her best trait is coming across quite a lot like Margot Kidder.
I enjoyed the Justice Gang, with Nathan Fillion's incredibly silly Green Lantern sporting the world's worst haircut, and Edi Gathegi's equally strange Mr. Terrific. But party girl Kara as Supergirl felt odd. Perhaps the root of all my complaints lies in the fact that this film has gone full silver age, and that's not my jam.
Also, I hadn't realized until reading the IMDB credits just now that this film had a character named “Otis Berg”, which is an obvious nod to the 1978 film.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
The retro-futuristic vibe really works, and setting the story on an alternate Earth is a perfect setup. Although I think the appearance of the 2005 Michael Chiklis Thing is better than the CG Thing in this film, this movie has so much going for it. I love that all four of them are geniuses, not just Reed.
And hoo boy, Sue's powers are way stronger and more versatile than I recall them being in any comic I've ever read. The CG effects of her powers look great as well. Not so much the creepy CG baby Franklin.
I really love Joseph Quinn as an actor - it turns out that his Eddie Munson wasn't an anomaly. And I feel that unlike the 500 other movies Pedro Pascal has been in, this is the first time I've seen the guy actually acting.
Weapons
I was intrigued from the first moment I saw the trailer. The cast including Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, and Benedict Wong is fantastic, and the creepy mystery pans out wonderfully.
The way the show was presented, from different overlapping character perspectives, worked so very well, especially when one perspective ended with a huge cliffhanger before backing up and beginning the story from the perspective of a different character.