Summary
- In films, villains are used to explore the darkest aspects of the human psyche.
- Some of the best crime films feature morally corrupt heroes driven by greed.
- Looks like villain oriented movies
Joker
and
Night crawler
dive deep into toxic mindsets and societal issues.
Movies with a main character and a villain are usually horror and/or thriller genres, but there are other possibilities. Everyone loves a good villain as much as the best Disney villains who are pure evil, but movies where the main character is a villain are inherently darker. This structure is usually used to explore the most disturbing aspects of the human psyche and what crimes a person will commit to get what they want.
Some of the best crime movies to watch over and over again are undoubtedly driven by characters who are villains because the whole point of the story is their morally depraved actions to increase their power. Other villains can be vigilante crusaders who take their noble intentions too far or simply destructive. As long as people like to watch movies with villains, the occasional movie about a complete villain will be interesting, further exploring this basic character framework of someone who harms others.
10 Scarface (1983)
Tony Montana (Al Pacino)
Al Pacino is one of the most famous gangster actors of all time and leads both Scarred face and Godfather as a character who is undeniably villainous unless his performance is better than those against him. Pacino's second major crime drama follows an ambitious crime boss as he builds his empire instead of inheriting it. But that means there are more heinous crimes for him to commit in order to rise to the top.
Worst things Tony Montana has ever done Scarred face including but not limited to multiple murders and his own sister getting beaten up for dating someone she doesn't like. Most crime films like this are based on the theme of threats and violence used to maintain power. Characters like Tony Montana and Michael Corleone are always waiting to get what they want and terrorizes his enemies, business partners, and family to make sure it happens. Both of them acquire great wealth at the cost of their moral integrity and end up destroying most of the relationships in their lives.
9 The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio)
He founded Wall Street It's like the rest of Martin Scorsese's crime sagas Godfather and Scarred facebut with a more modern streak. Based on the true story of criminal stockbrokers, He founded Wall Street nothing but greed and perversion. The multi-Oscar nominee is designed to spark dark comedy and showcase Jordan Belfort's perspective. because it is based on his post-prison autobiography. However, no one can justify what he did.
As he rises through the ranks as a stockbroker, Jordan pulls off massive scams to increase his fortune. Along the way, Jordan is also generally horrible to his family, abandoning his wife for a young woman he met at a party, eventually forcing her to leave him as well. Very few of Scorsese's characters are moral paragons when the legendary director became so fascinated by examples of greed and corruption in American history.
8 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell)
There's not much to say about Alex DeLarge, one of the most famous villains to ever get his own movie. Alex and his gang are merciless killers and thugs who roam the streets of a dystopian Britain, leading the film to feature some controversial, ultra-violent scenes. This is the preamble to the main preamble of the film, in which Alex undergoes a gruesome renovation by being imprisoned only to be violently repelled. then upon release.
The genre conventions of dystopias and the deeply disturbing scenes of Ludovico's treatment may lead people to conclude that the British government Orange clockworkthe villainous presence of Alex's relationship with him is dangerous, but that doesn't make him a better person. The film is not meant to achieve any sort of redemption for him, but to ask larger, disturbing philosophical questions about his life of violence and where it has led him.
7 Tragedy Girls (2017)
Sadie and McKayla (Brianna Hildenbrand and Alexandra Shipp)
If Carrie is the villain of his movie, Sadie and McKayla are the villains of theirs. Tragedy Girls shows the desire of two teenage girls to succeed as they try to build an online brand and laugh at their small following. However, like many other high school-centered thrillers, Teenage excitement and desire manifests in crime when Sadie and McKayala start killing their classmates to fuel their new true crime blog.
Sadie and McKayla commit murder for superficial reasons and are only rewarded for it.
Sadie and McKayla commit murder for superficial reasons and are only rewarded for it. Tragedy Girls It's a classic villain-oriented movie because it shows the main characters being ridiculously awful and doesn't teach a moral lesson. Whether or not is up for debate Tragedy Girls offers some commentary on today's high school experience, perhaps demonstrating the desperation for online popularity in the form of a modern slasher.
6 Nightcrawler (2014)
Louis Bloom (Jaeke Gyllenhaal)
Louis “Lou” Bloom is a pretty creepy character, is decidedly unconcerned about what he does to become a successful crime journalist. This includes constantly pressuring his lone employee to put himself in increasingly dangerous situations, the promise of a final promotion, and a paycheck that Rick desperately needs. Meanwhile, Lou sexually harasses Nina, a news producer who depends on the footage he sells her to advance her career.
Jake Gyllenhaal's performance sells it all as a completely irreplaceable villain whose sole purpose of the film is to show how far he will go. His complete emotional detachment from everything he does is the most disturbing part of how people make calculated choices without regard for morality. Night crawler may not give people the ending they want It's about Lou's character.
5 American Psycho (2000)
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale)
There isn't that much American Psycho beyond what the title suggests. The main character is a bored bank manager who moonlights as a serial killer, taking down friends, colleagues, and people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The audience gets the thriller part of the film from seeing the killer from the point of view of the killer. Maybe there's something there about basic human nature, but the hero still turns to violence to serve that philosophy.
American Psychos ending complicates this seemingly simple premise. If all of Patrick's crimes had never happened, his status as a villain is inherently different. However, Patrick is not a particularly likeable character without all the crimes. Although framed by a dream-like scenario, American Psycho imagines how a selfish person can be more terrible to those around them.
4 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Jack Skellington (Danny Elfman/Chris Sarandon)
The Nightmare Before Christmas technically gives audiences another villain – the iconic Oogie Boogie – so Jack can exist separately as a hero who destroys everything with his arrogance. However, Oogie Boogie's isolation prevents him from being the villain that people expect him to be; she spends the entire movie in her lair and the only reason she ends up with Santa is because of Jack. Jack is a character with agency and the resources to ignite conflict in a way that only villains can.
In the end, Jack's accidental mischief is the only reason The Nightmare Before Christmas happens.
After gaining sympathy for a musical illustration of discontent, Jack embarks on a misadventure that causes misery for others. He is terribly arrogant; Even if he can do Christmas right, he still has no right to take the holiday away from the people who usually make it. In the end, Jack's random mischief is the only reason The Nightmare Before Christmas is happening.
3 Shattered Glass (2003)
Stephen Glass (Hayden Christensen)
Broken Glass presents Stephen Glass in a uniquely sympathetic light that is tempting to buy, even if a viewer enters this film in the context of Glass's actual downfall. staff of New Republic they are so devoted to each other that a co-worker wonders if she should quit in protest of Stephen's scrutiny. The initial inconsistencies in Stephen's articles appear to be genuine misunderstandings and errors, but there are hints of a larger problem.
As the film goes on, Stephen becomes less likable, coming across as a producer of awesome and unforgivably bad things. It eventually becomes clear that he is blatantly fabricating stories to further his career and manipulating his editor and staff every step of the way to maintain his favor. Only satisfaction comes Broken Glass the remaining time New Republic accepts that they must deny Stephen and proudly prepares an apology to his readers.
2 Fight Club (1999)
Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt)
Fight club It depicts toxic masculinity and the battle against an extreme capitalist culture led by the enigmatic and destructive Tyler Durden. Bored and philosophically disillusioned with her life, the Narrator dreams of Tyler to make things more interesting. while At first, it seems that Talker and Tyler are just running a fight club and living outside the norm with wannabe assassins, their action becomes a dangerous plan to destroy the world.
To his credit, Fight club vividly illustrates the mindless outlook and consumerism of the corporate world as seen by the characters and how they believe it threatens them personally. However, Tyler then plans a series of explosions to throw society into chaos and destroy civilization's true oppressor. Fight club’s violent ending suggests that while Tyler was an attractive proposition to the Narrator, he was always poisonous and dangerous.
1 Joker (2019)
Arthur Fleck/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix)
Each subsequent take on Batman gets better at addressing the wealth gap that led to Gotham City's most famous Batman villains. In JokerArthur and his mother are extremely poor, which makes it difficult for Arthur to care for her and get the treatment he needs for his mental health. While other people in Gotham are already angry at the wealthy class represented by the Waynes, Arthur is given further reason to hate them when his mother claims that Thomas Wayne is his father.
Joker shows how a series of bad situations lead to the Joker, he's still villainous when he unleashes his wrath on the Waynes and the rich by fomenting anarchy that will only lead to death and destruction. The film is a psychological thriller, showing the human side of the Joker in a possible origin story. However, this is the case for films with a villainous hero, as people will see the marketing and go to see. Joker waiting for a movie that includes the villain of the main character.