Movie Talk: Top Ten Least Favorite Films of 2025

​Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of moviemanMDG's Movie Talk, where I talk about everything film-related.  Most of the time, I'm pretty generous with a particular film in my criticism.  While I may not like some of them as much as others, I strive to find a few merits in their intended direction to make my experiences more tolerable.  You can say that I am the complete opposite of a "film reviewer" you'd find on Twitter.  However, there have been times when a movie makes me struggle to find a single one.  2025 is no exception, as it gave us plenty of lackluster and even borderline atrocious films that made everyone question their existence and even throw a fit on Twitter.  Unlike my top ten list, I hadn't seen many films I thought were as bad as people made them out to be.  Fortunately, I've watched enough to make this top ten worst list possible.  I know we have the recent "War of the Worlds" adaptation featuring Ice Cube on Amazon Prime, and yes, it was "direct-to-DVD" awful.  I would've reviewed it, but I think the other reviews speak for themselves, so I wasn't going to waste my time with that.  But I will be discussing the top ten films that are equally as insufferable as watching Ice Cube sitting by the work desk for an hour and a half.  As always, if you like some of my selections more than I did, just so you know that I respect your opinion, even if I disagree.  With that said, let's count down the biggest stinkers of 2025.

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#10

A Minecraft Movie

​The video-game-to-movie trend has recently gained momentum with projects such as "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Super Mario Bros.", "The Last of Us", and even "Fallout".  However, that doesn't mean that the curse is truly broken, as we have a couple of adaptations this year that cater more to their fans than general audiences, but not in a good way.  One of them is my number ten pick, which celebrates creativity yet isn't very creative itself.  Despite an all-star cast and a promising director in Jared Hess, "A Minecraft Movie" is a half-baked, tonally fatiguing collection of Easter eggs that lacks a sense of innovation or entertainment in its underdeveloped premise.  The visuals were suitable for conveying the game's vibrant, blocky, and massively creative realm, and the cast, while underwhelming and exaggerated, made the most of their performances.  Besides that, "A Minecraft Movie" is what I would call the complete opposite of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie".  It's got plenty of Easter eggs to please the game's fans, but none of the charm or entertainment to make casual viewers unlock their own imaginations.

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#9

Smurfs

​I'm one of the many people who find some enjoyment in the Smurfs.  Heck, I would even say I was guilty of enjoying the live-action movies and "The Lost Village".  So, that should mean I would be able to tolerate the blue, fun-loving creatures' latest cinematic imagining, right?  Surprisingly, no.  "Smurfs" has an intriguing concept: them traveling across the multiverse, akin to the "Spider-Verse" films.  Unfortunately, it is wasted on a disappointingly mediocre, derivative, and dumbed-down reboot that lacks the fun, charm, and magic of the comics and previous film adaptations.  The animation is commendable for conveying the source material's traditional art design and the various styles of its world-building.  Not to mention, it features an inspiring message about self-identity and kindness for younger kids.  However, the film smurfed those merits to a pulp with its hit-and-miss voice cast, restrained world-building, and an uninspired screenplay full of forgettable humor and familiar story beats.  It's clearly enough to make older viewers go smurfing mad the same way Gargamel feels towards the cute, blue-skinned creatures.

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#8

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare

​Rhys Frake-Waterfield started on the wrong, if not tasteless, foot in his "Twisted Childhood Universe" with "Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey", a slasher take on the beloved silly old bear.  However, its sequel helped him find an identity he's going for, with its cheesy yet grim B-movie aura.  Unfortunately, that slight improvement was short-lived, thanks to the franchise's first of multiple planned twisted spin-offs.  "Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare" brought us a demented Peter Pan who spills blood instead of pixie dust, and the result is more of a dull, second-rate nightmare than a violently delightful dream for slasher fans.  Martin Portlock did a surprisingly good job as an unstable "boy who never grew up", and the practical effects were pretty decent for its grisly violence.  Sadly, those merits were hampered by its mediocre cast, Scott Jeffrey's underwhelming direction, genre cliches, and uneven editing.  You're better off relying on the other "Peter Pan" adaptations to take you to Neverland, especially the Disney version. 

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#7

The Old Guard 2

​"The Old Guard" was a surprisingly good action film on Netflix, benefiting from Charlize Theron's charismatic performance and Gina Prince-Bythewood's approach to the action genre.  So, it makes sense that Netflix would want to continue the story of the immortal soldiers hiding within society.  It's too bad that the one we got wasn't able to achieve its own sense of immortality to warrant its existence.  "The Old Guard 2" should've been another fun action-packed ride that rides on Theron's presence.  Instead, it's a forgettable and frustratingly sluggish piece of streaming slop whose mortality lies in its lackluster execution and disappointingly bland stakes.  Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman provided some bits of intrigue as the two clashing immortals, and the action choreography, while unmemorable, was enjoyable to watch.  However, these merits were wasted by its disjointed screenplay, dull direction, and an irritating cliffhanger ending, leaving it lacking the immortality and fun of its predecessor on an unfortunate scale.  If it were to continue with "The Old Guard 3", then I hoped it would be a much better experience than what I went through with this.  

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#6

The Strangers: Chapter 2

​The masked strangers returned for another deadly visit, as if their first visit was so much fun.  Renny Harlin's planned "Strangers" trilogy started poorly with a derivative first chapter that repeated the same structure as the 2008 film, but set in a cabin in the woods.  Its second chapter continues this fight for survival outside the forest, and while it delivers a slight improvement over its predecessor, it still can't redeem the further damage it has done to the franchise.  "The Strangers: Chapter 2" is an incredibly tedious and incomplete pursuit that lacks the anxiety-inducing edge and enjoyment of the 2008 film.  But the biggest offender is its attempt to "humanize" the enigmatic Strangers through flashbacks, betraying the core element that made "The Strangers" so terrifying.  Madelaine Petsch's performance was tolerable at best, and the single-take hospital scene was the only good part of the film.  Sadly, those hardly matter when you're dealing with a mediocre supporting cast, forgettable scares, and a head-scratching screenplay that's more dumb than innovative, making this second visit unbearable.  It would be interesting to see if "Chapter 3" can continue the trilogy's improvement or become the final nail in the horror trilogy's coffin.  Based on my experience with this one, I won't be surprised if it turns out to be the latter. 

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#5

Five Nights at Freddy's 2

​I know that I'm going to get a lot of flak for putting this film on my list, but I don't care.  I just really don't care.  They can try to talk me out of it all they want, but at the end of the day, I still stand firm when I say that "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" is not just a bad horror sequel, but also a bad sequel to an alright film adaptation of the popular game franchise.  This is another video game adaptation that's more intent on pleasing its fans with its plethora of Easter eggs than on delivering a more interesting, well-conceived story to complement them.  It retains some of the similar merits from its predecessor, including its bleak atmosphere and solid practical effects for the animatronics.  However, the character-driven moments from the first film were absent in the sequel, leaving us with familiar characters who become even less likable through their actions.  Its dull cast, uneven tone, tame scares, and Scott Cawthon's iffy screenplay make this second nighttime job less fun than the games and even the first film itself.  It also didn't help that my experience was ruined by a child who wouldn't keep quiet for almost the entire movie.  For my sake, the next film better be rated R.  Like I said, it's possible that the "Five Nights at Freddy's" fans will attack me for this.  But I won't care, as they'll only prove me right about how obnoxious and ill-behaved fanbases can be regarding people's different opinions.

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#4

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

​We have horror legacy sequels that successfully honor their original counterparts, as well as those that make us question their decision to revive their psychotic masked killers.  The 2025 version of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" belongs in a different category altogether.  This legacy remake/sequel is so baffling and soulless that I want to keep my experience a secret from anyone.  Its effort to offer bold narrative choices was commendable amid its familiar structure, but it tried way too hard to copy the merits of the recent "Scream" films, resulting in an unnecessary, frustrating, and generic continuation of the Fisherman's bloody rampage.  Its by-the-numbers screenplay, lackluster characters, predictable scares, and poorly executed final twist make this "requel" one to forget by next summer.  

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#3

Shadow Force

​Once upon a time, Cameron Diaz returned to acting to team up with Jamie Foxx for a movie about two operatives who fell in love and went off the grid to start a family.  That movie came to be known as "Back in Action", an action comedy that's understandably flawed but tolerable enough to warrant the leads' chemistry.  Then came my number three pick, "Shadow Force", an action thriller that revisits this concept with a different cast and a darker tone.  The result is an incredibly bland, fundamentally tedious thriller that couldn't escape the shadow of the Netflix film it's ripping off.  Juan Azpiroz's cinematography was admittedly decent in portraying its action set pieces, but it wasn't enough to get itself off the hit list.  With its uninspiring leads, Joe Carnahan's mediocre direction, bland script, and an underwhelming third act, the film should've moved to the shadows of streaming services.

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#2

In the Lost Lands

​If you think Paul W. S. Anderson couldn't get any lower than his "Resident Evil" and "Monster Hunter" adaptations, then you haven't seen what he did to George R. R. Martin's short story.  Considering Martin's success with "Game of Thrones" and the source material's post-apocalyptic essence, "In the Lost Lands" should've been another action-packed and fun experience, or at the very least, a "so bad, it's good" movie you would watch drunk with your friends.  Instead, it's a visually murky, soulless fantasy that further underscores Anderson's incompetence in adapting video games and short stories to the screen.  Despite its stylistic potential, "In the Lost Lands" got lost in its narrative wasteland, thanks to uncharismatic leads, dull direction, a lackluster script, and unappealing color saturation.  It's definitely time for Paul W. S. Anderson to step away from film adaptations for the time being.

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Dishonorable Mentions

​Ke Huy Quan's charisma and fun action choreography couldn't prevent this mediocre and formulaically restrained action comedy from breaking my heart.

​A surprisingly disappointing plane ride from director Mel Gibson that's held steady above ground by Mark Wahlberg's villainous performance.

​Its cute and warm nature couldn't decrease the "badness" level of this Disney live-action remake that's caused by its janky structure and frustrating narrative changes.

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#1

Bride Hard

​I previously thought that "In the Lost Lands" would take the rotten tomato as the worst movie of 2025.  But then I decided to watch a film I had skipped during its theatrical run.  It was either the best or worst decision I have ever made, depending on the circumstances.  The way I see it, attending an actual wedding would be a much better experience than what I just witnessed.  "Bride Hard" is what happens when you combine "Die Hard" with a wedding setting, and then suck the fun and wit out of its absurd concept.  This could've been an amusingly dumb comedy you wouldn't mind spending 90 minutes watching, especially with Rebel Wilson and Anna Camp from "Pitch Perfect" hosting this "important" event.  However, it turns out to be just plain dumb to the point of being insulting to people's brain cells.  It's uninspiring, tediously cliched, and horrendously unfunny, but not in a way that's considered "so bad, it's good".  This painful excuse of an action comedy made me hesitant to say "I do", which is enough to pick it as my worst film of 2025. 

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​That concludes my top ten least favorite films of 2025.  As I said earlier, if you enjoyed these selections more than I did, especially "Five Nights at Freddy's 2", I respect your opinion.  I may disagree, but I'm mature enough to understand that everyone has different perspectives on specific films.  They may like a movie that everyone hates or even hate a film that everyone loves, but at the end of the day, there's no denying that the art of cinema will always bring us together…as long as they act like adults.  Of course, that includes the ones on Twitter.  With that being said, I hope everyone has a happy new year, and I'll see you on my first review of 2026.