10 Recent Movies That Should've Ended Earlier
These recent movies just didn't know when to stop.
In an era where it feels like movies just keep getting longer and longer, there's something to be said for restraint, for knowing when to call it and wrap a movie up.
A punchy film that gets in, does its thing, and gets out at precisely the right time is a wonderful thing, though it's also tough for creatives to find the right balance - to leave audiences feeling satisfied while not blathering on ad nauseum.
And these 10 recent movies evidently all struggled to find the right departure point, each ultimately dragging on for at least a scene or two longer than they needed to.
These films, regardless of their overall quality, all found a natural stopping point and then just... kept going. Perhaps they tacked on an extra action scene or decided to set up a sequel, but whatever they did, it was just too much.
While these films could've ended a few minutes earlier and been decidedly tighter and more appealingly ambiguous as a result, they just couldn't help themselves, bloating themselves out with extended endings that just weren't worthwhile...
10. Flight Risk
Mel Gibson's new thriller Flight Risk tries to pull a Die Hard in its final few minutes by throwing one final threat into the mix once the primary villain has been dealt with.
As U.S. Marshal Madolyn (Michelle Dockery) manages to crash-land the imperilled plane, Mark Wahlberg's hitman is flung from the cabin and fatally struck by an ambulance on the runway.
Madolyn then sees her informant, Winston (Topher Grace), being wheeled into an ambulance, and everything seems to be resolved.
Except, she notices a very shady-looking man enter the ambulance, and swiftly discovers that the man is another assassin who attempts to suffocate Winston to death.
Madolyn then springs into action, shooting the second assassin, before the film ends on a hilariously awkward shot of paramedics and firefighters awkwardly staring at Madolyn and Winston in the ambulance.
Oh, and comic relief character Hasan (Maaz Ali) suddenly shuffles into the frame to take a peek for himself.
It's a wildly rushed, overcooked extra ending that feels more perfunctory than inspired, as though Gibson hastily added the scene after realising he was contractually obligated to deliver a 90-minute movie (it's 91 minutes long).