Ranking July 2025 New Movie Releases I Watched

With July at an end, it is time to share my thoughts and ranking of the new releases that I saw. July didn't have a ton of theatrical releases but the ones that did come out were huge movies (Jurassic World, Superman, Fantastic Four). I thought this was a pretty good month for movies as most of the movies, while not all very good, were a lot of fun. With all that said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the five new releases that I saw.

5. Eddington

Eddington is the movie this month that I did not enjoy at all. This is the newest film from Ari Aster, director of Hereditary and Midsommar. It is a Western set during the COVID-19 pandemic and tells the story of a face-off between the Mayor and Sheriff of the small town of Eddington. I think I may be missing something with this film. It has a 6.6 on IMDb and a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, so clearly people are getting something out of it, but it was just not my thing. I found all of the characters to be unbearably irritating and unlikable. The movie features people on both ends of the political spectrum, from anti-masking to Black Lives Matter protests, and the movie hits all the major beats of 2020. However, when you get to the extreme end of any group, it either comes across as ridiculous or irritating. In the case of this movie, everyone was irritating. I didn't think that the movie ever settled on the story it wanted to tell. It first starts as a face-off between the sheriff and mayor, then shifts into a murder mystery story, and finally throws some deserted town shootouts in the final moments. Nothing really works, as no plot point is ever resolved. I also thought the ending made no sense at all. Overall, this was a big miss for me and is probably one of my worst movies of the year.

Score: 4/10 Grade: D+

4. Happy Gilmore 2

Happy Gilmore 2 is the one streaming movie I watched this month. Long-delayed comedy sequels often have a less-than-stellar track record, and this film was no exception. There were a few funny moments, and I thought the movie did a decent job of calling back to the original film. However, there weren't enough funny moments to consider this an effective comedy. The movie was too preoccupied with flashing back to the original film and throwing in a ton of random cameos that it didn't take the time to tell an effective story or make a ton of jokes. I wasn't a fan of the direction they took the film. You see where it is heading in the first 5 minutes of the film, and I just didn't care for it. It kind of undermines everything that happened in the original film. This also doesn't bring any new characters into the mix, opting to either bring in the same older characters or just younger copies of characters from the first movie. Overall, I wouldn't consider this film to be as bad as people make it out to be, but it isn't a worthy sequel to Happy Gilmore.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

3. Jurassic World: Rebirth

Jurassic World: Rebirth is essentially a middle-ground film in the Jurassic series. There is some solid dinosaur action, and the CGI dinosaurs look very good. You get a little bit of that signature Gareth Edwards visual style and color palette, but this movie is probably the least like the Gareth Edwards other in that regard. I liked how simple the story was. We don't get bogged down in nonsense like human cloning, locusts, or corporate espionage. I also like how the movie still captures a little bit of that awe of seeing dinosaurs walking around like the original film and Jurassic World do. However, while it doesn't do anything overtly terrible, there are still some aspects that keep the movie from being better. Much like the other Jurassic World films, the characters are all one-dimensional. There isn't much to any of them other than just being a likable character to follow. I also thought that the boating family didn't have any reason to be in the movie. They don't contribute anything to the overall mission and are just there. I also wasn't a huge fan of the mutant dinosaurs. I feel like the story could have had the same effect using actual dinosaur species. In the end, this is a fun summer blockbuster, but it doesn't have highs or standout moments to put it higher on the list.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

2. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

The Fantastic Four is the newest film in the MCU and one of the best films I've seen this month. This movie does a great job of embodying the family aspect that The Fantastic Four is known for. These actors have great chemistry together, and it is clear that there is nothing this team wouldn't do for each other. I like the retro-future aspect of the film. It gives the movie a unique vibe and style that we haven't seen in another MCU movie. It has this Jetsons 1950s vibe to it, which works with the tone of The Fantastic Four. I also liked how the movie embraces the space aspect of the team, with them going on an actual space mission with their power. It also brings some cool Interstellar references in. I was so happy that the movie was finally able to deliver a proper Galactus. Instead of an evil space cloud, like in other films, this movie brings a comic book-accurate Galactus for the team to fight. I felt that this movie was one of the most comic-booky movies in the MCU. It feels like a Jack Kirby comic come to life. Overall, this is a great Fantastic Four movie, and you can tell that Marvel took extra care to make sure everything was perfect before releasing it.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-

1. Superman

This is the newest Superman movie and probably the best movie I saw this month. This version of Superman showcases the traditional values from the 1978 movie while utilizing special effects of today's age. This is probably the most comic booky out of all of the Superman movies as it embraces the weird and wacky, such as giant monsters running through a city or a flying space dog, that is usually only found in comic books. However, James Gunn uses this weirdness in such a way that it feels normal within the story he is telling. I also like how this movie drops the audience right into the action with a Superman who has been active for 3 years. This avoids the story having to get bogged down by an origin that takes up half the movie and instead gives more time for Superman in action. Doing it this way also makes the world feel more lived in and preestablished with all sorts of monsters, metahumans, and villains already running around instead of having to take the time to find a natural way to introduce all of this stuff. From a performance standpoint, I thought David Corenswet was great as Superman. He doesn't try to copy either of the other actors in the role and instead brings his own take. Instead of playing a level-headed version of the character, he instead plays it more emotionally, with his version of Superman making decisions based on emotion instead of logic. In the end, this is a great modern-day take on Superman and helps bring in a new era of comic book movies and will probably be one of my favorite movies of the year.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-