2025: Hit, Sleeper, Dud
2025 Hit Sleeper Dud is here, and this year it’s a solo pod.
Whitey is on the road, the Academy Awards are looming, and the team is temporarily scattered, but the show must go on. So in true Born to Watch fashion, we break down the year in film the only way we know how, by calling it straight. The hits. The sleepers. The duds. No fence-sitting. No safe takes. Just movie love, movie rage, and a bit of chaos in between.
First up, the HITS.
Leading the charge is F1, starring the forever-sexy Brad Pitt. It’s big, loud, formulaic and absolutely electric. Joseph Kosinski proves again he knows how to strap a camera inside a cockpit and make you feel every rev. Unreal cinema fun. That’s what movies are supposed to be.
Then comes Weapons, the horror surprise that had Whitey on edge from start to finish. Creepy premise, massive performances, and Amy Madigan absolutely crushing it. This one lingers.
Stephen King’s The Long Walk delivers bleak dystopia done right. Cooper Hoffman proves the talent runs in the bloodline, and Mark Hamill playing against type adds weight to a brutal premise.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps lands better than expected, giving Marvel just enough oxygen to stay alive heading into Doomsday. Period setting, Galactus looming, and yes, Pedro Pascal everywhere.
And yes, Jaws returning to cinemas for its 50th anniversary still rules the ocean. Some films do not age. They evolve.
Now the SLEEPERS.
Anaconda (2025) should not have worked. But it did. Jack Black, Paul Rudd, jungle chaos, midlife crisis energy. Low expectations. Big laughs.
The Naked Gun reboot? Surprisingly hilarious. Liam Neeson leans into absurdity and Pamela Anderson brings the heat. It’s not Leslie Nielsen, but it earns its laughs.
Then Marvel’s quiet comeback entry, Fantastic Four, sneaks in again as a sleeper-level win.
Now the DUDS.
Jurassic World Rebirth proves some DNA experiments should stay extinct.
Superman should have soared. Instead, it stumbled. Strong casting, messy execution.
And Captain America: Brave New World? Whitey turned it off. Enough said.
Plus, we talk about the “meh” movies like Sinners and One Battle After Another, which were good but not great.
Then we look forward. Spielberg. Nolan’s The Odyssey. Michael. Masters of the Universe. Mandalorian and Grogu. Avengers Doomsday. Dune Messiah.
Big year coming.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
- What was YOUR 2025 Hit Sleeper Dud?
- Did Superman deserve better?
- Are we done with dinosaurs yet?
Drop us a voicemail at https://www.borntowatch.com.au and be part of the show.
Like. Subscribe. Share with your friends. Share with your enemies.
Born to Watch. We don't take ourselves or the movies too seriously.
#BornToWatch #MoviePodcast #2025Movies #FilmReview #HitSleeperDud #CinemaTalk #MovieDebate #Blockbusters #Marvel #FilmFans
