10 Movies That Peaked Too Soon

The entire point of a James Bond pre-title sequence is to give audiences a dose of high-octane entertainment right out of the gate and set the tone for what's to come.

Even so, most Bond movies manage not to shove their best ideas into the opening 15 minutes, though the most recent Bond film Spectre sadly did nothing but.

By far the most memorable part of the entire movie, the pre-title sequence sees 007 (Daniel Craig) preventing a bomb plot in Mexico City during the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Between Sam Mendes' decision to shoot a large chunk of the scene in a digitally-blended "single take" and the generally high-wire nature of the action - particularly the final showdown in the chopper - it offers up everything fans expect to see ahead of the customarily glossy opening titles.

The remaining two-plus hours of the movie, however, are largely characterised by an uneasy slide into mediocrity as Bond follows a series of breadcrumbs leading to the painfully laboured reveal that Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) has been the "author of all his pain" all along.

Narratively a mess, overstuffed with characters, filled with oddly forgettable action, and totally wasting Waltz as the iconic villain, Spectre's riveting opening left the rest of the film feeling positively lethargic.