I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) Review

 

A year after being involved in a hit-and-run cover-up, a group of friends receives a message that someone knows what they did… And then the body starts falling.

So the movie starts with characters talking to themselves or each other in pretty clunky exposition that people don’t normally talk in. Then the actual car crash felt very forced, and like the writers were going out of their way to make the main characters not look too responsible because they want us to not hate them, even though it was a pretty morally gray thing they did. Plus, unless the guy driving had his eyes closed the whole time driving, not to mention the friends themselves, it should not have worked out the way it did; it felt more forced than a Jedi vs. Sith battle lol.

The kills are pretty mid, not bad, but mostly forgettable aside from one or two interesting visuals.

My favorite thing was the performances of Chase Sui Wonders & Madelyn Cline; the depiction of their friendship and the comedic timing of Cline got some genuinely enjoyable moments out of me, so I look forward to seeing them in future projects.

The rest of the cast is fine; they’re all doing their best and in some instances are able to elevate the material they’re given. Unfortunately they have pretty generic things to do, and some just don’t get much of a spotlight to shine or be that memorable, but that’s more the material than the actual performers.

The killer is kind of stupid, because it’s set up so there’s a clear reason why they’re killing.

but they end up killing people that not only have nothing to do with this but also are going out of their way to drive a hook into them, which feels counterproductive to their mission

The pacing is off; it feels like scenes got reworked and re-patched in the editing.

It’s well shot, and I like the color grading.

The callbacks to the original film are also mixed; some feel more inserted than a pig in a blanket, others less so, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t one or two I didn’t get a kick out of, but I will say it is more miss than hit, unfortunately.

I did like seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt again; she’s an actress I always get a kick out of seeing pop up in things.

There were also certain parts where it felt like they were writing certain characters to be dumber than they should just to move the plot along, like I know we are here to see people get killed, but the setupcould’ve definitely been stronger.

Without spoiling anything, there was a reveal at the end that I thought was actually kind of clever and interesting, and oddly enough, it kind of reminded me of another 90’s slasher flick, so interesting call and big points for you there.

So this is not a great movie; it has flaws and doesn’t coalesce as well as it should… But it was relatively harmless, and I’d be lying if I said there weren’t moments I didn’t enjoy. I was going to walk out saying I was entertained for the most part… Then another twist happens, which is so left field and has more holes in it than a mound of Swiss cheese at the bottom of the Grand Canyon that, unfortunately, it tarnished the goodwillI had built up, sorry to say. Not to mention the movie keeps going and has a few strenuous scenes that did not feel appropriate given the situation.

I give it a low two stars ⭐️⭐️, and I think it’s pretty safe to just say that if I got a note next year saying, “I know you saw this movie last summer,” I’d be like… Did I? 😂 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps review

 

The superpowered family, the Fantastic Four, must save New York from the cosmic foodie Galactus from eating their planet and must battle his surfboard-riding silver herald.

Hands down, my favorite thing about this movie was the world. The level of detail and creativity they use in both the design, tone, and the overall filmmaking for this retro-futuristic 1960s New York is incredibly well realized, and I kind of want to watch the film when it comes streaming just so I can pause and look at all the little funny Easter eggs and retro billboards in the background.

Overall, I was happy with the betrayals and adaptations of the Fantastic Four themselves; it’s not “Capital P perfect, but the actors definitely understand these characters and portray their core characteristics admirably. I can definitely see them strengthening in their roles/group dynamics in future sequels.

I was happily surprised with Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic. When he was first announced, I was a little hesitant. Reed Richard’s reserved but intelligent/caring nature is a very precise balancing act to pull off performance-wise, and it’s not exactly what Pedro Pascal is known for, so I wasn’t sure if he could pull it off. But I think Pascal brought a subtle gravitas and interesting dimension to Reed that made it easy for me to buy him as the character, so good job, Pedro.

Vanessa Kirby was very smart, confident, and warm as Susan Storm. Her character helped keep the film's emotional core grounded and relatable.

Johnny Storm has always been my favorite of the team, and I’m happy to say I approve of Joseph Quinn’s performance. Due to the nature of the story, we don’t get as many “funny antics, womanizing, and joking personality” from him as I usually like, but I think what we got worked for the story they were telling, and I was entertained throughout, so I look forward to seeing more from him in the future.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach is a solid Ben Grimm/The Thing. His character of the four does have the least amount of story going on; also, he’s not written as boisterous as I usually like the character—he’s a little more mellow, but that’s more of a nitpick on my part. The actor's natural likability and laid-back charm made him very easy to like and root for.

Herbie the robot is cool. He is cute but also helpful and well utilized throughout the plot.

I am quite happy with this version of Galactus. He’s big, intimidating, and has the crazy purple hat… What more could you want lol?

I also really liked Galactus's spaceship; there was, like, this big, creepy, mechanical H. R. Giger field, everything I really dug.

Julia Garner gave a very interesting and complex performance, both vocally and physically, as the Silver Surfer. I wasn’t the biggest fan of where her character stuff ended; without spoiling anything… it felt a little abrupt.

My biggest complaint with the movie… I wish there had been more character moments. It feels like scenes might’ve been cut or trimmed down for a shorter run time. I don’t think it was too detrimental to the film, but you can definitely feel a couple of subplots or character traits could’ve been fleshed out more and could’ve had a more distinct feel if they had more time to breathe. I kinda hope Disney+ releases a director's cut where they include some extra scenes cut; it would definitely be a good incentive for people to use the streaming service lol.

As I said earlier, they show the teams and character history in a montage at the beginning and then just drop you into the story, and I do like that they get the ball rolling right off the bat. Although if you don’t have any real prior knowledge of these characters, it might take you a little bit of time to get a handle on their personalities and their dynamic. I think that could’ve been fleshed out and made more clear earlier on… This is where that director's cut could help Disney, hint hint, lol.

As far as summer blockbusters go, it’s a good one. The visuals are creative and stunning, and there are some fun action set pieces. It isn’t “Jurassic Park” or “Titanic” level, but I would definitely give it above average, definitely memorable.

They do fit a lot of story into the runtime; at some point it can feel like a lot, and certain story beats and time frames get sped along or glossed over, but never to the point that it takes me out of the story. It keeps a breezy and fun pace that is never too distracting and is entertaining throughout.

I was impressed with the score; it was very bombastic and creative.

There was also a small little tribute/nod to the creators of the Fantastic Four, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, which I thought was very sweet.

There was one really funny moment I had in the theater, but it’s kind of a spoiler, so I’ll save it after I give my rating, but let me just say it was a funny audience interaction.

To summarize… It’s a fun movie. You can tell the filmmakers and actors have a lot of passion and creativity for the material and are giving it their all, and while characterization and breathing room might be sacrificed in certain parts for a quicker runtime and more story beats, the overall product and characters still work. Is there room to grow? Yes, but this is a solid and well-made foundation.

I give this film a low… four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. If nothing else, I’m happy for this rating just for the pun; that’s fantastic lol.

So the funny moment… In the post-credit scene, they allude to doom and show the doom mask, and one guy the audience yelled… It’s MF Doom. and the entire theater laughed, so that was a nice way to end things.

Superman (2025) review

 

After 12 years of waiting, I’m happy to say… I saw the new Superman movie with Clark Kent.

has to reckon with his Kryptonian heritage and his life on Earth while Luther tries to take him down.

I liked David Cornsweat in the movie; his Superman/Clark Kent feels like 80s Tom Hanks mixed with Brendan Fraser, which, hey, I’m always down for some Fraser influence. I wasn’t blown away by his interpretation of the character, but I thought it was a solid foundation, and I’m interested to see where the character goes from here.

I really enjoyed Rachel Brosnahan's take on Lois and her character. I’ve kind of wanted to see this characterization on the big screen for a while, and I’m glad I did. I think the Lois and Superman scenes are the heart of the film and were my favorite scenes. They felt very stripped down, heartfelt, and realistic. I’d say my biggest praise of this film is Cornsweat and Brosnahan’s performances, not to mention James Gunn’s writing and the 1970s-inspired minimalist directing, so my hats off to all that. 👏👏👏

I quite enjoyed Nicholas Holt’s performance; it was very intense and interesting, although a bit flat… It feels very similar to Colin Farrell’s performance in “The Batman.” You can see what he’s going for, and you like it, but there just isn’t enough substance to it to make it stand out. It just needed that little extra “it factor or to delve more into his motivation and psyche to make a pop… Like I know it’s cliché for a villain to go into a monologue and tell you a story from my past that explains why they are the way they are, but honestly I think we could’ve used the scene like that just to give  Lex a little bit more personality and honestly, some of his dialogue towards the end gets very on the nose as far as what his character represent involving theme and motivation but Nicholas Hoult performance carries my enjoyment of this character through most of the film and I could definitely see my ranking and enjoyment of the character growing if he gets further development in future projects (like I did with Colin Farrell‘s Penguin after the penguin show) which they said Lex Luther is gonna be around so I’m sure we will but for right now he’s just good, but needs more time to cook

Jimmy Olsen got an interesting and funny subplot; it was probably my second favorite part of the whole film. It feels sort of like a fresh take on Jimmy while also playing into classic Jimmy themes and Jimmy feeling like Jimmy (man, I’m saying Jimmy a lot lol), but as a fan of the character, it was nice to see him get some fun stuff to do.

Strange to say, but I think my favorite character in this was Eve Teschmacher. I thought the actress gave a very comedic but oddly sweet performance, plus who she was interacting with and their whole plot led to some good chuckle moments, so I just got a real kick whenever she was on screen.

One of the big storylines has quite a bit of “modern social commentary,” and honestly, anytime they mentioned modern 2025 commentary, it was probably my least favorite part because it was so on the nose, and frankly, I’m tired of dealing with all the stuff in the real world because it’s so constant, in your face, not to mention everywhere. So while I do like some of the elements for their story potential, you can also tell it’s very personal for James Gunn, and I like when filmmakers get personal and put a lot of their heart into a movie, frankly… I don’t like having to deal with this in our real world, so watching Superman having to deal with it isn’t exactly a cakewalk.

The movie starts in an odd place, like it kind of feels like we’re missing a first act, and it leads to some very clunky, exposition-heavy dialogue through a good chunk of the first act and a half, which I thought could’ve been worked in better.

The Justice Gang was… ok. I think the standup was Mr. Terrific, who was… terrific 😂. He had a very cool characterization and one of the most interesting fight sequences I’ve seen in a superhero film in a while. I’m always going to be down to see Nathan Fillion in the sci-fi role, so that was a blast, and Hawk Girl was there. Not bad, but just very much in a supporting role, which I’m OK with.

There was a big sci-fi element introduced, which was probably my second least favorite part in the movie; it just felt a bit needless and didn’t add much to the story except for a very heavy CGI action scene, which I didn’t really care for, and to add some stakes to the climax, which didn’t really need to be there. This movie has enough going on, and it just felt like too much by the end.

The engineer was there and also OK… That’s all I really have to say about her.

I liked the scenes of Lois and Jimmy investigating; they felt very fast-paced, very Aaron Sorkin-esque.

I enjoyed the Daily Planet cast: Perry, Cat, Ron, and Steve (who I think will be a big comedic standout for most people), although they were a bit underserved, and I wish we had seen more of them. So right now they’re good, but I do think they need more time to cook, and I hope we get to see more development for them in the future because I think there’s more there to work with and explore.

Jonathan and Martha Kent were fine; they’re not in the movie a whole lot, but the parts they were in were nice… A bit standard usage of Ma and Pa, nothing that really stood out from previous incarnations of the characters, but still sweet and had some nice acting moments for the actors, so good for them.

Metamorpho is another character who is fine… I seem to be saying fine a lot in this review lol. There were interesting and fun uses of his powers; I would say walking out. I was just kind of positively indifferent towards him, like he was there and he did things… That’s about it for me.

I was disappointed with Ultraman; he kind of feels like an afterthought and, frankly, was a waste of an interesting idea.

Krypto was fine. I wish they had used a real dog for certain scenes instead of making the character completely CGI, but there were some cute and funny moments featuring the pup.

I like how kryptonite was depicted in the movie; he was one of the people more interested in effective uses of the rock I’ve seen in Superman media, and I thought there was a subtle inference to one of the themes of the movie in what the kryptonite, both metaphorically and physically, represents to Superman, so props and a gun for the creative choice there.

I like how they depicted Superman flying; it was definitely different but unique. I could see some people not dealing with it, but I was able to roll with it.

I thought the cinematography and color grading were good, the fight scenes were fine and standardly enjoyable… Although there was one part that felt like the most Power Rangers-esque fight I’ve ever seen, for good and for ill.

The Fortress of Solitude, the Daily Planet, Luther Corp., and the Kent Farm were all well-done sets, and very light spoiler… I think my favorite scenes were the ones in the Pentagon; I just love the way they were shot.

I was a little underwhelmed by the soundtrack; it wasn’t bad, just kind of bland.

There were a few cameos that I thought were cute; there was one right towards the end that was set up for something else, and without spoiling it… I’m actually quite interested to see where that goes; that could be quite interesting.

So, as you can see from all the different stuff I’m talking about… I have a lot of different thoughts and feelings about Superman (2025); honestly, there is too much. I understand James Gunn is not only trying to tell a Superman story but also set up a whole franchise/universe set-up film, and for what it is, it’s a pretty good introduction. There’s just a lot of fact in the story that, honestly, I wish could’ve been trimmed so we could get a more lean and cohesive movie, and the things I wish could’ve been expanded upon

I think one of the hardest parts about thinking back on Superman (2025) is how I’d rate it, because my thoughts and feelings are quite manic and all over the place. There are just a lot of elements coinciding for screen time all at once throughout the film, but the highs are quite high, and the lows are pretty low, so it’s been tricky. But here’s what I’ve surmised… Remember when you were a kid and your parents would tell you, “You have to finish your vegetables in order to have your dessert”? That’s kind of what it felt like during certain parts of the movie. I had to get through all the different plots and tones in order to get to the parts I like, which, like I said, are standouts. Unfortunately, there’s just too much fat going on in here that the film suffers and makes it hard to digest. I think if we had focused more on Clark & Lois’s relationship and Superman’s commitment to doing good and developed more of Lex Luther’s motivation, Ultraman, and developing the Daily Planet cast, I’d be more hyped on this movie. As of right now, for me personally, I give it between 3 and a half stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️/💫 and four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️… but for regular audiences, I’d say a low four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I can’t say I didn’t have a good time, but it could’ve been leaner and stoned… But there’s enough here that work (and when it works, it really works well for me),  that I think if James Gunn makes a more cohesive and leaner sequel, it would be something really special.

F1 Review

Brad Pitt plays a racer who is brought back to Formula One racing after three decades by his old racing buddy to help save his team, and he butts heads with a young hotshot teammate…

So let me get my biggest critique out of the way: F1 has a lot of familiar story beats and clichés you’ve seen in other sports movies. “A shot at the big leagues for an (over the hump) athlete,” “Can these two teammates get along?” “Saving the team from being shut down,” and a couple more I won’t spoil. But to F1’s credit, it’s not so much what you do but how you do it, and the cast and crew really elevate this material so it feels fresh and fun.

What also helps is the actual racing. Now I don’t know a lot about Formula One racing (there were several cameos from real-life racers and figures that went over my head lol), but this movie is quite good at pulling you into this world and showing you all the little details, science, mechanics, and human endurance it takes to race, which was very fascinating and intriguingly told. I could definitely see people leaving this movie on a Saturday and watching some formal one the following Sunday.

To go along with that, the racing scenes are incredible; they film it so you're in the driver's seat while they're taking all these fast & tight turns, with very convincing CGI throughout, and the sound editing really makes you feel all the turns and speed. I would actually recommend seeing this in IMAX if you can.

Brad Pitt does what he does best… being laid-back, charismatic, and cool. But it helps his character have some interesting depth that makes you root for him.

Damson Idris plays the young racing partner, and this is the first thing I’ve seen this actor in, and for me it’s a good debut. He's likeable and charming, and he had good chemistry with Brad Pitt. I hope to see him in more projects in the future.

I liked Kerry Condon in the movie; she was fun, smart, and sassy. I could see some people’s criticism of her storyline of being Brad Pitt’s love interest as “unnecessary,” but honestly it didn’t take away from the rest of the story for me, and she and Pitt have fun chemistry, so I was fine with it.

Javier Bardem is enjoyable as well. He’s very debonair, adds some heart to the film, and he and Brad Pitt have very believable “old buddies” chemistry.

There are quite a few minor characters in this, all very likable, funny, and sweet in their roles. The movie is good at making you root for the racing team… There are two characters I felt were included to be antagonistic and add stakes to the film, which I don’t think was needed, although one character does have a funny payoffto his jerk arc.

I did not realize going in that the movie was two and a half hours long, and I didn’t really feel it while watching the movie, which is impressive for any film, so my hats off to the filmmakers for pulling that off.

I did get to see this movie with my cousins (shout out to Grady, Griffith, and Billy), who all enjoyed the film and explained some of the racer references to me after the film, lol, but it was a blast seeing the movie with them.

So to summarize, this movie is a great example of a “fun popcorn movie” done well. Through the filmmaking, performances, and showing you the ins and outs of Formula One, it takes familiar stories and ideas and shakes them up in a way so the audiences are engrossed while watching and will more than likely walk out feeling positive and having had a good time.

I give F1 four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️. Also, try and catch this movie on the big screen if you can because it’s definitely worth it.