8 Movies That Desperately Needed an Extra 10 Minutes

8 Movies That Desperately Needed an Extra 10 Minutes Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen, stares in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of MadnessImage via Marvel Studios By  Diego Pineda Pacheco Published 39 minutes ago Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel. A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated. Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point. Sign in to your Collider account follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Not every movie lasts as long as it needs to. Plenty out there run for a little too long, testing audiences' patience with an overdrawn introduction or a third act that refuses to end. There are also films, however, on the exact opposite spectrum; ones that end up being a little too short. This shortcoming can result in a rushed ending, exposition dumps to compensate for the limited time granted to world-building, or simply a narrative that feels like it's missing something.

More than a few movies didn't really need much longer of a runtime; just 10 more minutes, and everyone's qualms would have been put at ease. These 10 minutes could have been dedicated to further explaining details of the plot, exploring more creative possibilities, or simply making sure the ending doesn't feel abrupt. Whatever the case, the fact of the matter is that these movies would have greatly benefited from giving themselves just a little more space to breathe.

8 'World War Z' (2013)

Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane in World War ZImage via Paramount Pictures

Inspired by a 2006 novel by Max Brooks, World War Z is one of the best zombie movies of the 21st century. It was a huge box office hit and a success with critics, despite the fact that it deviates considerably from the source material. It doesn't redefine the genre, but it does every thrilling thing it can with it. However, a common criticism that even its fans tend to throw at it is that it would have benefited from being slightly longer, especially considering that it deviates so much from Brooks' book.

Even just 10 more minutes to explore World War Z's ensemble more deeply or slow down the breakneck pacing to a more comfortable speed.

World War Z has tons to offer, from Brad Pitt's hard-hitting performance to its unique take on zombies, but it's lacking the expansive scope and character-driven tone that made the novel so special. There's nothing inherently broken about the state of the movie as it is now, but with even just 10 more minutes to explore its ensemble more deeply or slow down the breakneck pacing to a more comfortable speed, it would have been significantly better.

7 'Tenet' (2020)

The Protagonist, played by John David Washington, standing next to Neil, played by Robert Pattinson in 'Tenet.'Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Tenet is what you get when a hyper-acclaimed director gets a little too lost in his own sauce and forgets what truly made his work special to audiences. The magic of Christopher Nolan's filmography never lay in his films being pure mind-benders, but rather in how that mind-bending nature complemented his compelling characters and detail-rich stories. Tenet has a cool premise, but it's so focused on testing its audience's understanding of its complicated sci-fi concepts that it ends up being frustratingly impenetrable.

Some would still call the film one of the best techno-thrillers of the 21st century, and it certainly does have strengths, from John David Washington and Robert Pattinson's performances to Ludwig Göransson's kinetic score. However, those strengths would have been allowed to shine far more if only Nolan had actually taken the care to ensure that it was possible to follow the events of his film. With just 10 more minutes in its runtime, Tenet would have still been chaotic and mind-twisting, but much more satisfyingly so.

6 'Candyman' (2021)

Image via Universal Pictures

Based on a short story by Clive Barker, 1992's Candyman is one of the decade's most iconic horror films, a modern Gothic gem with a legendary villain. Some sequels came out later, but Nia DaCosta's 2021 Candyman ignores them, instead serving as a direct sequel to the original. It had been stuck in development hell since the early 2000s, but what it took was a director as talented as DaCosta to finally get such an ambitious project off the ground.

The profound political commentary of this cult classic is as sharp as a razor, but it lacks staying power. The themes are huge and far-reaching, from gentrification to police brutality, but at only 91 minutes long, Candyman just doesn't have the length required to let every theme and character arc breathe. As a result, too, this promising but ultimately disappointing horror ends up being far sparser than it was in the original. 2021's Candyman is still solid horror cinema, but is thus less scary and less hard-hitting than the 1992 classic.

5 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' (2022)

With Sam Raimi behind the camera directing the MCU's first-ever proper horror film, a beloved character being put front-and-center, and one of the MCU's most overpowered villains, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness should have, by all means, been a truly crazy film. However, what do you get when you mix an insufficient runtime with a studio that won't let its directors have full creative control? One of the most disappointing films in the MCU's history, that's what!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has plenty of Doctor Strange, but there's very little multiverse in it and barely any madness. For years, fans have complained that deeper world-building and spending more time in different (and more creative) multiverses would have helped the movie tremendously, also offering more time for Wanda's arc to be better fleshed out, thus doing a better job justifying her descend into pure villainy compared to her arc in WandaVision. As it currently stands, the movie promises a lot but can't really deliver.

4 'Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith' (2005)

Image via Lucasfilm

Sixteen years after his original Star Wars trilogy ended, George Lucas still felt like there were good reasons to return to the galaxy far, far away. To tell Anakin Skywalker's backstory, for once. That's how the infamous prequel trilogy came into being, a series of films that originally received significant backlash but have since seen a resurgence in popularity. It has come to a point where many Star Wars fans would call Episode III — Revenge of the Sith their favorite installment.

It is, indeed, the most nostalgic movie of 2005, a Shakespearean space opera that connects to the original trilogy beautifully. Clocking in at 2 hours and 20 minutes, this is already among the longest Star Wars films, but even that isn't long enough. Anakin's fall to the Dark Side feels a little abrupt, and the Clone Wars are almost entirely skipped over (which at least gave fans the best-ever animated Star Wars TV show), which means not enough of the Republic's political downfall is shown. With just 10 more minutes in the narrative, these issues could have been significantly improved upon.

3 'Dune' (2021)

Duke Leto and Paul Atreides in Dune (2021) played by Oscar Isaac and Timothee ChalametImage via Warner Bros. Pictures

After David Lynch's infamous flop and Alejandro Jodorowsky's failed attempt at a different adaptation, many people came to believe that Frank Herbert's Dune—one of the most influential works of science fiction in history—was impossible to turn into a worthy film. Denis Villeneuve saw that as a challenge and delivered Dune, an enthralling desert adventure with some phenomenal direction and a great cast.

But aside from being one of Oscar Isaac's highest-rated movies on IMDb, Dune is also a great and hugely creative adaptation of Herbert's iconic novel. Great, but not perfect. It feels like less than half a movie, telling just a small slice of the movie's story and thus sacrificing a lot of the material's complexity. Character arcs and undercooked, certain scenes are somewhat rushed, and then the movie just... ends. With Dune: Part Two being one of the greatest sci-fi films of the 21st century, one can only wish that Villeneuve had given himself the chance of expanding the duology's first part just a little longer.

2 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012)

Image via Warner Bros. Pictures

Many would call Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy the greatest, most cohesive superhero movie series ever made, and for good reason. The series came to an end with The Dark Knight Rises, and though fans tend to agree that it's the weakest of the bunch, it's still a fantastic action thriller. Epic, character-driven, and full of the practical-effects-heavy set pieces that characterize Nolan, it's one of the Caped Crusader's best adventures on the silver screen.

Batman's arc is deeply compelling, Bane is one of the movie villains with the most aura, and the third act is a pure rush of adrenaline and emotion. However, there are also some plot contrivances, underdeveloped characters, and moments that deserved to be fleshed out a bit more, all of which could have been solved with just a brief extra 10 minutes of runtime. Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) would've benefited the most from the extra time, because as it stands, her character's arc and motivations are deeply unsatisfying. Besides, it's not like anyone would have complained about getting more Nolan Batman.

1 'War of the Worlds' (2005)

Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier in 'War of the Worlds'Image via Paramount Pictures

Steven Spielberg is one of the most legendary filmmakers of all time, and rightfully so, but his 21st-century work has undeniably been a bit weaker than what he did prior. For starters, the director revolutionized cinematic science fiction, which made the news that he was working on a contemporary adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds all the more exciting. But as great as Spielberg's version of the story is, it definitely peaks during the second act and takes a steep nosedive in its third.

The world-building feels a little thin, and certain portions of the narrative feel a bit too compressed, but that's not even the main issue. The thing that makes War of the Worlds so infamous is its terribly abrupt ending, which could have been prevented with a little more time to explore the aftermath of the film's events. War of the Worlds is already one of the best Spielberg works of the 21st century, and it being a little over 2 hours instead of a little under would have made it even better.

War of The Worlds PG-13 Action Science Fiction Thriller Release Date June 29, 2005

Cast Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Tim Robbins, Justin Chatwin, Rick Gonzalez, Yul Vazquez, Lenny Venito Runtime 116 Minutes Director Steven Spielberg Writers Josh Friedman, David Koepp, H.G. Wells Genres Action, Science Fiction, Thriller Powered by Expand Collapse

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