Ranking Every 2025 Movie: Dogman/Heart Eyes/Companion/Valiant One

Alan West. Shutterstock Images.

People shit on movies that come out this time of year all the time (and with good reason). While there isn't a great movie among Dog Man, Companion. Heart Eyes and Valiant One, all of these have something to offer.

Here's some mini-reviews of each:

If you have a kid, you've likely say through worse movies than Dog Man. This is about 10 minutes too long and could use 30% less "jokes", but it is creative enough and you do care about the characters. I was nervous seeing this kids movie by myself that I was going to be a huge creep, but seeing it at 9:35 PM on a Thursday wound up being a smart choice. I was the only one in the theater.

Dog Man is a fused police officer and his dog, but don't let that fool you. Dog Man is basically just a dog. He spends most of the movie trying to arrest a genius cat (voiced by Pete Davidson) who is evil. The animation quality (a mix between looking like a kid crew it and very clean computer animation) and ability to tackle themes like loneliness made this a better and more creative movie than I expected. 

This doesn't re-invent the world of animation but it's a solid enough option for families. Plus, Dog Man himself seems like a pretty great dog.

For good or for bad, Heart Eyes is much more obsessed with the slasher/rom-com genre mash-up than anything else. When I say anything else, I'm talking plot, character development, you name it. But it does do a great job nailing that genre combination.

This focuses on a Seattle couple (although they are quick to say that they aren't a couple) played very likably by Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding (you might know him from recent Scream movies). They meet cute at a coffee shop on Valentine's Day only to find out that they now work together. They then spend the rest of the night trying to avoid a masked serial killer named Heart Eyes.

It's well crafted enough and the entire cast buys into the overall mood of the movie. I give this the slightest of slight recommendations. When a movie spends too so much time winking at the audience, it's hard to care too much. But, if you are a couple that has someone that enjoys a cuddly rom-com and the other a bloody horror slasher flick, this movie is literally made for you.

Companion has lofty goals but ends up not quite taking itself seriously enough. Instead, it's the store brand version of Westworld.

This has strong performances from Jack Quaid and especially Sophie Thatcher. Both have really bright futures. Rookie director Drew Hancock shoots some nice visuals but if a movie doesn't care about most of it's characters, why should we?

This isn't funny enough to be a comedy and not scary enough to be a horror movie. Companion has some big things it wants to say about controlling relationships, AI, and how we treat each other but it keeps getting bogged down with trying to move a lousy plot along.

I was left pretty disappointed and can't recommend Companion. However, if you can look past the weak story and supporting cast and instead focus on the larger themes, there are worse options out there.

The least seen and cheapest made movie of these four wound up being my favorite. Unless you watch The Outer Banks, Valiant One likely has no one you've ever heard of and is helmed by a first time director. But, you know what? It's not bad. It's a movie with a very low ceiling but manages to graze that height and be all that it can be.

This is about a routine Army mission in South Korea that ends up resulting in a helicopter crash. That crash wounds up leaving a team of about eight soldiers in North Korea and they have to make their way back.

It's a simple enough premise and it's well executed. Like, I said this is a very inexpensive movie. Despite taking place in North and South Korea, it's clearly shot in Canada. The lead actors (Chase Stokes and Lana Condor) both make you believe in the material.

This is not a great movie but it had no shot at that. If you are someone that enjoys a decent military movie that has no wasted fluff (run time of only 87 minutes) and characters you care about, it's worth making the effort to find it playing somewhere near you. Just go quickly because this will be out of theaters very soon (still hasn't made a million dollars after a full week).

Dog Man: C+

Heart Eyes: C+

Companion: C

Valiant One: B-

2025 Movies

1)Presence 

2)The Damned 

3)One Of Them Days 

4)VALIANT ONE

5)HEART EYES 

6)Flight Risk 

7)Den Of Thieves 2 

8)DOG MAN

9)COMPANION

10)Inheritance

11)Brave The Dark 

12)Wolf Man