Top February 2025 New Releases: A Ranking From What I Saw

With February at an end, it is time to share my thoughts and ranking of the February new releases that I saw. I saw five movies this month but two of them were some of my most anticipated movies of the year. This month was another mostly meh month in terms of movie quality but they were all at least somewhat entertaining. With all that said, here are the five new releases that I saw this month.

5. Love Hurts

Love Hurts was an entertaining enough Ke Huy Quan action vehicle. It was fun to see Ke Huy Quan get a starring role after being neglected by Hollywood for so long. The movie brings a lot of fun action sequences where we see Ke Huy Quan fight guys with random household objects. The stylization and choreography of the action remind me a bit of John Wick. Love Hurts also has quite a bit of humor that lands most of the time. The tone reminds me of Bullet Train which has high-intensity action while not taking itself too seriously. The movie also moves at a pretty fast pace and wastes no time getting into the action. The big issue with this movie is that there isn't enough action. Part of that has to do with the run time. The movie clocks in at about 80 minutes and thus can't have as much in it as it probably should. It needed to be 10-20 minutes longer with a couple more action sequences. The movie also gets a bit bogged down with random subplots and romances. When the movie is 80 minutes, you can't waste time on a random side-character romance. In the end, while it isn't a great action movie, it was a lot of fun and kept me entertained for the entire run time.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

4. Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World is the MCU release of this month. The movie follows Sam Wilson as he takes on the mantle of Captain America. I liked that the film has a tone similar to that of Captain America: Winter Soldier. It has a bit of a political conspiracy thriller vibe that brings some good moments to the movie. I thought Harrison Ford was a good addition to this universe. He does a good job of playing the character of Thaddeus Ross as he is trying to be a better person. Brave New World also feels more interconnected than many previous films have as there are plot points that connect to The Incredible Hulk and Eternal. Unfortunately, this movie has a lot wrong with the structural issues. There were a lot of reshoots and rewrites due to poor reception and you can feel those. The cuts where the reshoots are feel obvious and a bit unnecessary. The villain also feels very underwritten and is just a half-baked version of Zemo. Finally, this film doesn't have enough Red Hulk in it. He is a big part of the trailers and marketing but is only in the movie for about 5 minutes. Overall, while aspects of this movie feel like the MCU of old, some of it also feels like the current era of written-by-committee scripts with a fix-it-in-post mentality.

Score: 6/10 Grade: C+

3. The Monkey

The Monkey is the final movie I saw this month. This was a dark yet surprisingly funny horror film. The Monkey has this scary story you tell at a party kind of vibe as it moves very quickly and focuses on the story's hook. You can definitely feel the Stephen King polish to the story which is how the story is structured and certain plot points play out. I like how the movie doesn't get bogged down with any of the backstory about this toy monkey. All we know is that it causes people to die when its key is turned and that is ok. The lack of information about this monkey is what makes the movie so intriguing. You can feel that the movie is based on a short story and not a full novel as none of the characters or plot is fleshed out. I also felt that the son's character was a bit one-note. His whole character is that he is mad at his dad for not being a part of his life. Finally, I thought that aspects of The Monkey were a bit goofy at times. I think it should have toned back the jokes just a little bit. Overall, I had a good time with this movie All it is trying to do is tell a small scary story and I think it does that well.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

2. The Gorge

The Gorge is a new Apple TV+ release for this month. The Gorge is the story of two highly trained operatives who are stationed to defend opposite ends of a gorge from a mysterious email inside. The movie stars Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. This movie was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. It is one part horror film, one part science fiction, and one part romance. Honestly, I thought the romance aspect was the best part of the movie. The whole first have where we see Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy building this relationship was so well done. The two actors have great chemistry together and It was fun seeing them do all these unique things to communicate and connect on opposite ends of this gorge. I also liked how the movie was able to seamlessly blend the horror and romance genres together. You can get invested in the romance aspect of the story and then right when you forget about the gorge, something will attack. I definitely enjoyed the first half more than the later half. I felt that the movie turned into a bit of a generic sci-fi zombie movie in the second half but I still had a good time. Overall, this was a solid horror romance film and something I wouldn't mind seeing more of.

Score: 7.5/10 Grade: B

1. Paddington in Peru

While Paddington in Peru may be the weakest of the Paddington films, it is still a very good movie and the best movie I saw this month. Paddington in Peru takes what I loved about the other Paddington movies and brings it to a new setting. It was fun to see Paddington in this Indiana Jones type of story. The movie still retains the Paddington charm while also embracing the structure of an adventure movie. This is the type of movie that I want the Paddington franchise to start making more of. Take Paddington and put him in all of these different genres. Thankfully, Paddington in Peru still manages to deliver the heart and emotion that both of the other films have with an ending that almost makes you want to cry. There is a bit of a villain issue in this movie. There are two villains in this movie and I don't think either are particularly strong and should have been combined into one character. However, even that is a minor issue In the end, this is sweet addition to the Paddington franchise that retains the Paddington charm while exploring a new setting.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-