Spectre: 9 Simple Fixes That Would've Made It Awesome

8. Cut About Half An Hour Out Of It

It didn't drag as such, but it's two and a half hours, and that's always going to be a bit of a graft. Length has been an issue for many blockbusters, even massive franchise toppers. What chance does a spy thriller in which the specific threat isn't entirely clear have? What was great about Casino Royale and Skyfall was that there felt like there was absolutely minimal flab. With Spectre, the action felt a bit more compartmentalised: here's a bit about Madeleine Swann, here's a bit about Spectre, here's a sweeping vista, oh look Christoph Waltz isn't wearing any shoes, CUCKOOOOO. Mendes showed with Skyfall that he can balance action, character and plot development very deftly, but he perhaps got a little too involved in extending the Skyfall narrative and neglected to really focus as tightly as he had with Skyfall itself. Lose some of the stuff around L'Americain and the psychotherapy-unit-cum-ski-resort, and trim a little from the Rome car chase, and you're halfway there.