10 Movies That Made You Root For The Bad Guys

April 24, 2024, 11:35 p.m.

Movies

10 Movies That Made You Root For The Bad Guys

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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.

Related 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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buy Not available Not available Not available 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

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.

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9 Four Lions (2010)

The comedy quickly turns to tragedy as reality sets in

Director Chris Morris Release Date May 7, 2010 Cast Riz Ahmed , Kayvan Novak , Nigel Lindsay , Arsher Ali , Adeel Akhtar

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.

8 Scarface (1985)

Tony Montana's intoxicating rise to the top is a thrilling watch

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Brian De Palma Release Date December 9, 1983 Cast Al Pacino , Michelle Pfeiffer , Robert Loggia

Tony essentially digs his own grave, but he also falls victim to a culture obsessed with power and status.

Scarface is a rags-to-riches story about the American dream, but Tony Montana's empire crumbles into dust due to his own hubris. Although Tony is a violent thug who alienates everyone close to him, his journey from inauspicious beginnings makes him a hard character to hate. He's forced to fight against the odds and claw his way to the top, even though this means developing his ruthless streak until it takes over his entire personality.

Audiences may not exactly want Tony Montana to achieve all of his goals, but they may be rooting for his redemption. His final showdown highlights that he has learned nothing and he can't truly change. Tony goes out in a blaze of glory. It's a tragic end for a character who still garnered a lot of sympathy despite his long list of violent crimes. Tony essentially digs his own grave, but he also falls victim to a culture obsessed with power and status.

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7 The Third Man (1949)

Harry Lime is too magnetic and charming to hate

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Carol Reed Release Date February 1, 1950 Cast Orson Welles , Joseph Cotten , Alida Valli , Trevor Howard , Paul Hörbiger

After Harry's first meeting with Holly and their conversation on the ferris wheel, it's hard not to root for him as he leads the police on a frantic chase through Vienna's sewer system.

Orson Welles didn't direct The Third Man, but the noir thriller provided him with one of his most unforgettable roles. Welles plays Harry Lime, a black market trader living in post-war Vienna who fakes his own death to outrun the law. He doesn't appear for most of the movie, but his figure hangs over the entire plot. When he finally appears in a doorway with the faint glimmer of an impish smirk, he instantly attracts the audience's attention.

Harry is a rogue operator living in an area of Europe still trying to forge a new identity after the devastation of the Second World War. He has his own way of looking at the world, and he has a supreme, infectious confidence. After his first meeting with Holly and their conversation on the ferris wheel, it's hard not to root for him as he leads the police on a frantic chase through Vienna's sewer system.

6 Nightcrawler (2014)

Leo Bloom is a compelling antihero

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Dan Gilroy Release Date October 31, 2014 Cast Riz Ahmed , Bill Paxton , Jake Gyllenhaal , Rene Russo , Kevin Rahm , Michael Hyatt , Ann Cusack

Audiences tend to be drawn to characters who are passionate and hard-working. Lou is both of these.

In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a struggling thief who begins a career as a freelance journalist, chasing car crashes and shootouts with his police scanner. Lou Bloom is unethical from the very beginning, posing bodies at crime scenes to get the best angle for his footage, but these habits soon escalate until he is committing crimes just so that he can get the exclusive scoop as soon as it happens.

Audiences tend to be drawn to characters who are passionate and hard-working. Lou is both of these. If anything, he has a little too much of each quality. This makes him easy to support and sympathize with, even if his crimes are utterly unjustifiable. Nightcrawler also makes Lou easy to root for by showing the dire circumstances he has to endure in the beginning, when he resorts to stealing scrap metal from railyards.

5 The Killer (2023)

In a world of duplicitous assassins, the Killer is basically a good guy

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director David Fincher Release Date November 10, 2023 Cast Michael Fassbender , Tilda Swinton , Kerry O'Malley , Charles Parnell , Lacey Dover , Monique Ganderton , Sala Baker

David Fincher uses his signature directorial style to track the Killer's every move with acute attention to detail.

The Killer follows a professional assassin after a botched job in Paris which brings his life under threat. David Fincher uses his signature directorial style to track the Killer's every move with acute attention to detail. With every tilt of his head and crack of his knuckles, Fincher brings the audience one step closer to inhabiting the role of the Killer, and his constant narration also contributes to this effect.

Although he is a contract killer with low morals, the Killer is a completely absorbing character. Each of his decisions are methodical and deliberate. This is important because he acts as a proxy for the audience, so he has to be a knowledgeable guide into the world of hired guns. One other thing that makes him easier to support is the fact that, despite his line of work, there are many much worse people in his business.

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4 Joker (2019)

Arthur Fleck's misanthropic worldview is sadly convincing

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Todd Phillips Release Date October 2, 2019 Cast Joaquin Phoenix , Robert De Niro , Zazie Beetz , Frances Conroy , Brett Cullen , Shea Whigham

The Joker's methods may be unnecessarily violent, but he's right to want to dismantle the kind of society which doesn't care for its citizens in need.

There were doubts before Joker's release over whether the Batman villain even needed an origin story, since he often works best as an enigmatic agent of chaos, like Heath Ledger's famous portrayal in The Dark Knight. Joker silenced the doubters with a dark psychological drama that brought a completely new dimension to a well-known character. Suddenly, the Joker became a tragic figure beaten down by an unjust world.

The Joker's methods may be unnecessarily violent, but he's right to want to dismantle the kind of society which doesn't care for its citizens in need. He sees beyond the glossy veneer of community to Gotham's dark heart, and he only wants people to stop pretending that they are any more than animals. Joaquin Phoenix is returning as Arthur Fleck for the sequel, Joker: Folie À Deux, alongside Lady Gaga.

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3 The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Hannibal Lecter may be a murderer, but at least he has manners

Director jonathan demme Release Date February 14, 1991 Cast Scott Glenn , Jodie Foster , Anthony Hopkins , Ted Levine , Anthony Heald

Hannibal just wants his freedom back, or at the very least a window in his cell, and these are motivations that anyone can relate to.

Hannibal Lecter is a convicted serial killer who eats his victims, but he is still more likable and easier to support than some of the other characters in The Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal is one of very few people who look Clarice in the eye and treats her with respect. Most of her male colleagues either leer at her or dismiss her entirely. Hannibal is interested in who she is as a person.

Many of the best quotes in The Silence of the Lambs belong to Hannibal Lecter. Anthony Hopkins stretches every second of screen time that he gets as Hannibal, and his presence dominates the movie even when he is far away from the events unfolding. Hannibal just wants his freedom back, or at the very least a window in his cell, and these are motivations that anyone can relate to.

2 The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

Martin Scorsese's biopic glamorizes a group of selfish egomaniacs

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buy Not available Not available Not available Director Martin Scorsese Release Date December 25, 2013 Cast Margot Robbie , Leonardo DiCaprio , Jonah Hill , Kyle Chandler

Scorsese's portrait of American decadence is meant to be idealized and enviable, therefore making the viewer question their own morals.

Plenty of Martin Scorsese's movies create compelling portraits of unsavory criminals. Goodfellas, Casino and The Irishman are all told from the perspective of criminals, but none of them are as indulgent and over-the-top as The Wolf of Wall Street. The crime comedy shows white-collar criminals throwing lavish parties on private yachts and satisfying their every vice. They are brash and obnoxious, but they are living aspirational lifestyles.

The true story behind The Wolf of Wall Street is a little darker than what appears on screen, but this is the point. In real life, Jordan Belfort didn't just scam the wealthy, and many people were left penniless by his schemes. Scorsese's portrait of American decadence is meant to be idealized and enviable, therefore making the viewer question their own morals. It's easy to judge Belfort and his colleagues from the outside, but most people are simply envious of the party.

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1 Ocean's Eleven (2001)

Many heist capers are about bad guys having fun

Other heist movies often try to present the thieves as heroes. Ocean's Eleven makes no such claim to the moral high ground.

Ocean's Eleven, like many of the best heist movies ever, is about a gang of unscrupulous crooks working together for a big score. Other heist movies often try to present the thieves as heroes. For example, Now You See Me depicts the Horsemen as radical redistributors of wealth, and Nicole's motive in How to Steal a Million is to keep her father out of prison. Ocean's Eleven makes no such claim to the moral high ground. Danny Ocean and his crew are thieves by trade, and they set out to steal from the Las Vegas casinos for personal gain.

It's easy to root for the gang because they are so fun to spend time with. Aside from the sub-zero cool of Danny and Rusty, there's also the plucky charm of Linus, the rapid-fire banter of Virgil and Turk, and the sheer marvel of Yen. Terry Benedict, the antagonist of the story, commits no major crime other than standing between Danny and an incalculable fortune, and also dating his ex-girlfriend.