Summer 2025 has been a blockbuster season at the movies, with Hollywood delivering everything from nostalgic sequels to ambitious franchise reboots. As theaters buzz with excitement and streaming platforms gear up for major releases, three films have emerged as the talk of the town: Freakier Friday, Celine Song’s Materialists, and the dino-sized return of Jurassic World: Rebirth. Each offers a different flavor of cinematic experience, yet all have sparked passionate reactions from critics and audiences alike.
First up, Freakier Friday, the long-awaited sequel to the beloved 2003 body-swap comedy, is making waves not just for its story but for a delightful throwback in its end-credit scene. According to FanSided, the film’s credits roll with a series of bloopers featuring stars Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the rest of the cast. Instead of teasing another sequel or laying breadcrumbs for a cinematic universe, the filmmakers opted for a dose of pure nostalgia. It’s a move reminiscent of the early 2000s, when moviegoers would linger in their seats for a peek behind the curtain—watching actors flub lines, crack up, and share genuine moments of camaraderie.
“We get the bloopers for Freakier Friday, offering a look at how Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the rest of the cast got along. It’s a clear sign that Lohan and Curtis didn’t ‘reunite’ for the Freaky Friday sequel. The two have been in each other’s lives consistently since they made the original 2003 movie. We get to see how they continue to connect today,” FanSided reports. That sense of real-life connection shines through, giving fans a warm, human coda to the film’s zany premise.
This approach stands in contrast to the Marvel formula that’s dominated the past decade, where post-credit scenes are meticulously crafted to set up future installments or spin-offs. Yet, Freakier Friday isn’t alone in bucking the trend. Another 2025 release, Deadpool & Wolverine, also leaned into nostalgia, using its end credits to showcase interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted scenes that charted the evolution of Ryan Reynolds’ and Hugh Jackman’s characters. As FanSided points out, “Bloopers are always a lot of fun, because we get to see the actors for who they are. We’re reminded that they do make mistakes on set, and we get to see the humanity within them that red carpet events can often take away.”
While Freakier Friday invites audiences to laugh along with its stars, Celine Song’s Materialists has sparked a different kind of conversation—one centered on authenticity and emotional resonance in modern romance. Released and reviewed on August 8, 2025, the film had generated considerable buzz, in part due to Song’s acclaimed debut with Past Lives in 2023. Expectations were high, and for much of its runtime, Materialists seemed to deliver.
“The first 75% of the film was excellent,” writes CinemaBlend’s Alexandra Ramos, who watched the movie at home on release day. “I actually did like the idea of a matchmaker having this pessimistic view of love and then struggling to connect with someone, only for her to communicate with a person from her past. That’s prime material right there.” The film, starring Dakota Johnson as Lucy, explores themes of love and life that go beyond the boundaries of a traditional rom-com. Johnson herself described the project as “more than a ‘rom-com’ and has a lot of poignant lessons on love and life.”
But it’s the ending that left some viewers, including Ramos, unconvinced. In a courthouse-set end-credit scene, Lucy and John (played by Chris Evans) tie the knot. Yet, for all the narrative build-up, the relationship’s believability is called into question. “I just can’t see Lucy and John staying together very long,” Ramos admits. “Money issues are a significant hurdle in most relationships… I don’t think Lucy showed enough growth in her understanding of finances for her to connect with John over that truly.” The film, she argues, spends more time on the couple’s conflicts than on moments of genuine connection, making their reconciliation and marriage feel unearned.
“They don’t feel like they’re in love, and that’s the big thing,” Ramos continues. She contrasts Lucy’s lackluster chemistry with John to her “atomic” connection with another character, Harry (Pedro Pascal). “If you’re going to write a romance movie, please, for the love of all things good, make the endgame couple actually feel like they genuinely love each other and they’re not just settling.” Despite these criticisms, Materialists has found fans who appreciate its willingness to subvert genre expectations and tackle the messier aspects of modern relationships.
While some films are stirring debate, others are simply raking in the cash. Jurassic World: Rebirth, directed by Gareth Edwards, has proven the enduring appeal of dinosaurs and big-screen spectacle. As reported by USA TODAY, the film has grossed a staggering $766 million globally after just five weekends in theaters. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali, Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, David Iacono, Luna Blaise, and Audrina Miranda, assembling a cast as star-studded as any blockbuster this year.
The plot picks up five years after the events of Jurassic World Dominion, following a skilled team on a secret mission to secure the DNA of the three largest dinosaurs—a quest with the lofty goal of curing heart disease. Along the way, they rescue a shipwrecked family, crash onto the island, and discover that past scientists created mutated creatures, one of which becomes a climactic threat. Brian Truitt of USA TODAY awarded the film two and a half stars out of four, noting, “Director Gareth Edwards at least tries something different by throwing a heist movie into the usual perilous adventure. But homages to Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original, a starry cast… and dinos aplenty can only do so much when saddled with generic characters and a rickety plot.”
For those eager to watch at home, Jurassic World: Rebirth is already available for purchase or rental on digital platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home as of August 5, 2025. Physical media—4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD—are set to hit shelves on September 9. Streaming on Peacock is expected in late October or early November, following Universal Pictures’ usual release schedule. Meanwhile, Universal Orlando is celebrating the film’s success with themed food, exclusive merchandise, and a meet-and-greet with Dolores, the Aquilops dinosaur featured in the movie. And for those wanting to revisit the entire saga, all six previous Jurassic Park films are currently streaming on Peacock, with some also available on Netflix.
It’s clear that summer 2025 at the movies has offered something for everyone—nostalgic comedy, thought-provoking romance, and roaring action. Whether you’re sticking around for bloopers, pondering the complexities of love, or marveling at the latest dinosaur adventure, Hollywood’s latest slate is proof that the big screen is alive and well.
