Summary
- Some movies make audiences support bad guys, creating a fun change of pace and blurring the line between good and evil.
- Compelling villains like Killmonger and Harry Lime can steal the show, making audiences root for the "wrong" side.
- Characters like Tony Montana and The Joker garner sympathy despite their crimes, challenging traditional views of morality.
Some movies subvert expectations by making the audience fall for the bad guys. This is sometimes a result of using antiheros who operate based on their own moral compass, but there are other times when a captivating villain can steal the show, and audiences start rooting for them instead of the villain. Movies that make audiences support bad guys can be a fun change of pace.
Plenty of crime movies feature compelling bad guys, especially gangster movies and heist capers. It can be fun for audiences to support the opposite side for a change, and movies like this question the true divide between good and evil. Some criminals are more righteous than law enforcement, and some societal outcasts are kinder than the herd. Captivating movies can often make the audience root for the "wrong" side, even if they don't realize it at first.
10 Movies Where The Villain Was By Far The Better Character
There are some movies where the villain actually managed to end up being more engaging and compelling than any of the other characters.
10 Black Panther (2018)
Killmonger makes a strong argument for Wakanda's future
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- Director
- Ryan Coogler
- Release Date
- February 16, 2018
- Cast
- Chadwick Boseman , Lupita Nyong'o , Letitia Wright , Angela Bassett , Winston Duke , Michael B. Jordan , Danai Gurira , Forest Whitaker
T'Challa initially struggles with the legacy of his father and the responsibility of becoming the Black Panther. He needs Killmonger's alternative viewpoint to show him that he shouldn't be fearful of change.
Erik Killmonger is one of the best villains in the MCU, even though he isn't the most powerful. Like all the most compelling villains, his motivations are just as compelling as the hero's. He believes that Wakanda should step out of the shadows and share its advanced technology with other African nations so they can overthrow their oppressors on a global scale. His desire for the throne is merely a means to achieve this goal.
T'Challa initially struggles with the legacy of his father and the responsibility of becoming the Black Panther. He needs Killmonger's alternative viewpoint to show him that he shouldn't be fearful of change. Ultimately, T'Challa comes around to Killmonger's way of thinking. After Killmonger's death, T'Challa reveals Wakanda's true nature to the whole world. Killmonger may have lost to T'Challa, but he still scored a posthumous victory in this regard.
9 Four Lions (2010)
The comedy quickly turns to tragedy as reality sets in
These characters don't deserve a clean slate after what they've done, but they could have been shown some kind of mercy or salvation.
Four Lions is a satirical comedy about a group of wannabe terrorists, and it manages to do the impossible by making terrorism funny. It achieves this by drawing a stark contrast between their glorified ideals and the haphazard reality of their bombing attack. Although the absurdity of their fanaticism is nothing to admire, their humanity shines through in their final moments, and there's the indication that they realize the error of their ways.
Omar and Waj are particularly tragic cases, since Omar only grapples with the true scale of his actions when it's too late and Waj is never intelligent enough to know what's going on. These characters don't deserve a clean slate after what they've done, but they could have been shown some kind of mercy or salvation. For the most part, their deaths are as random and chaotic as the ones which they caused.