Best movie of 2025... and the one you enjoyed most!

What movie did you enjoy most in 2025? And what movie do you think was the best?

And for fun, what was the worst?

(For the 'I enjoyed it most so by definition it's the best' crowd, sure, if you like.)

For me --

• The best movie I saw in 2025 was probably Sinners. I haven't always liked Ryan Coogler's stuff, but this was pretty damn good.
• The one I enjoyed most was Superman.
• The worst was that new War of the Worlds thing where he sits at a computer screen for 2 hours. That's two hours I'll never get back.

Well, I saw a truly colossal number of films (for me) at the cinema this year so I’m spoiled for choice. However I’ll go with:

• Best film: This is Spinal Tap. RIP Rob Reiner.
• Film I enjoyed the most: Fantastic Mr Fox. For my money, the best Wes Anderson.
• Worst film: Ahh, this is kind of harsh, but it has to be Captain America: Brave New World. It’s not terrible but it’s definitely the least good film I saw at the cinema in 2025.

I didn’t see a lot of movies in 2025 but I’m going to go with:

• Best Movie: Superman, exceeded my expectations and captured what I wanted from a Superman movie.
• Most Enjoyed: K-pop Demon Hunters. This movie came out of nowhere with an original concept, super catchy songs, and great messaging that gave me feelings of hope and joy in this crazy world.
• Worst: Captain America: Brave New World. I saw it with what I thought were tempered expectations but it just disappointed on so many levels.

Superman is, for me, both the best and the one I enjoyed the most. It’s great having someone who actually understands and likes superheroes making Superman movies again.

I assume you mean movies released in 2025, or seen for the first time this year? I'll assume the former.

Probably Sinners or Weapons. Honorable mentions to Companion and Superman.

Overrall not a great year in film. Nothing wowed me, though I haven't seen Bugonia yet. Sinners was very good, but a bit overhyped, imo. Weapons, too, though more in a cult following sort of way.

One Battle After Another was technically very good, but ended up feeling a bit underwhelming. It must have been one of Leonardo Dicarpio's most forgettable roles. Sean Penn was great, though.

The worst film I made it through was probably Fountain of Youth. Yet another mediocre Indiana Jones knock-off, but non-Office Jon Krasinski doesn't have the quirky charm of Nick Cage. The worst film I didn't make it through was Ice Road: Vengeance. I have a soft spot for Liam Neeson action films, but this was unwatchable.

The best films I saw for the first time in 2025? I really enjoyed the first two Knives Out films, so they get a nod. I thought Prey was excellent, though I'm not sure if that's because it was a lot better than I thought it would be.

jian said:

Worst film: Ahh, this is kind of harsh, but it has to be Captain America: Brave New World. It’s not terrible but it’s definitely the least good film I saw at the cinema in 2025.

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It's not harsh. It's a terrible film. Worst MCU film by a considerable margin, and utterly forgettable. Also my worst film of the year, though I didn't see a ton of new releases.

Best was Hamnet. I've taught Hamlet about a zillion times and seen so many versions of it, but this take on the material and the lives around it is sublime. Cannot recommend enough.

Most fun was Thunderbolts. I'll watch Florence Pugh in anything.

I saw all the praise Sinners was getting so I watched tonight and that was cinematic art, really enjoyed it. I’m not sure it changes my vote but definitely a contender for Best.

Clint_L said:

It's not harsh. It's a terrible film. Worst MCU film by a considerable margin, and utterly forgettable. Also my worst film of the year, though I didn't see a ton of new releases.

Best was Hamnet. I've taught Hamlet about a zillion times and seen so many versions of it, but this take on the material and the lives around it is sublime. Cannot recommend enough.

Most fun was Thunderbolts. I'll watch Florence Pugh in anything.

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Ah, I think it could have been worse. Tim Blake Nelson and Harrison Ford were both entertaining, I just wish it didn’t feel like an extended episode of Falcon & the Winter Soldier.

(It also helps make Sam feel petty at a distance in the post-credits sequence of Thunderbolts where he’s apparently getting annoyed at them for calling themselves the New Avengers, since it’s clear he doesn’t have an alternative team ready to go. It’s just him and Falcon. Unless we’re supposed to take a Disney Cruise video as canon, in which case it’s him, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Wasp, and maybe Falcon. Which is admittedly a much more substantial lineup.)

I’d count several MCU films as worse (in no particular order: Quantumania, Iron Man 3, The Incredible Hulk, Thor the Dark World, Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, The Avengers).

jian said:

Ah, I think it could have been worse. Tim Blake Nelson and Harrison Ford were both entertaining, I just wish it didn’t feel like an extended episode of Falcon & the Winter Soldier.

(It also helps make Sam feel petty at a distance in the post-credits sequence of Thunderbolts where he’s apparently getting annoyed at them for calling themselves the New Avengers, since it’s clear he doesn’t have an alternative team ready to go. It’s just him and Falcon. Unless we’re supposed to take a Disney Cruise video as canon, in which case it’s him, Ms Marvel, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Wasp, and maybe Falcon. Which is admittedly a much more substantial lineup.)

I’d count several MCU films as worse (in no particular order: Quantumania, Iron Man 3, The Incredible Hulk, Thor the Dark World, Dr Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, The Avengers).

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Quantumania is almost as bad, IMO, but I’ll give it the edge because of its crazy setting. I think IM3 is severely underrated; I like it, and like that it largely stands alone. Both IH and TtDW are a good time, if kind of forgettable. MoM is pretty lame but, again, some cool scenes. The Avengers is fantastic!

I thought Harrison Ford was laughably bad as President Ross/Red Hulk, I thought Leader’s super genius plan was incredibly dumb, I had forgotten that the film introduced a new Falcon, I thought it looked terrible, it didn’t have a single standout scene, and I think Anthony Mackie is not a very persuasive Captain America, probably because his Falcon was cast as a kind of foil for Captain America.

Clint_L said:

Quantumania is almost as bad, IMO, but I’ll give it the edge because of its crazy setting. I think IM3 is severely underrated; I like it, and like that it largely stands alone. Both IH and TtDW are a good time, if kind of forgettable. MoM is pretty lame but, again, some cool scenes. The Avengers is fantastic!

I thought Harrison Ford was laughably bad as President Ross/Red Hulk, I thought Leader’s super genius plan was incredibly dumb, I had forgotten that the film introduced a new Falcon, I thought it looked terrible, it didn’t have a single standout scene, and I think Anthony Mackie is not a very persuasive Captain America, probably because his Falcon was cast as a kind of foil for Captain America.

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I think Sam is growing well into his role as Cap and Mackie is doing a fine job with that. His basic themes (continued from FatWS) are still strong and developed well in BNW. The aerial battle scenes are great; the only quibble I’d have is that they should really be against the Chinese navy, not the Japanese.

IH is poorly paced and Norton fails to sell it, but we can put that down to teething troubles. TtDW is formulaic and joyless, again before they really had the MCU system down, and IM3 wants to be a different, more stupid film.

The Avengers is Whedon at both his best and worst, and his best isn’t a high bar; there are a couple of good scenes (Bruce’s intro, “there are always men like you”) but the dialogue and character dynamics would be poor in a teen comedy, and that Cap costume is unforgivable. It’s aged very badly and that’s even when I was cringing half the time in the cinema originally. I’m glad it opened the door but I wish to God someone else had made it, and made a better film.