Movie villains are often more appreciated than heroes. Wild agents of chaos, cold calculating geniuses, superhuman physical threats, clever manipulative masterminds, or inconceivable monsters have become fan-favorite characters in the villain role. Unfortunately, writing a lovable bad guy is often much easier than coming up with the methodology they use. That’s what makes the compelling examples even more interesting. Spoiler Warning for every film mentioned.
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Magneto – X-Men
Though completely drowned out by its sequel and ongoing franchise, Bryan Singer’s first take on the iconic Marvel franchise was a decent film. This movie came almost a decade before the introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making it one of the earliest superhero films in the modern model. The 2000 original sees Sir Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr, AKA Magneto, in the primary villain role.
As is often the case, Magneto’s motivations are sympathetic. He was persecuted as a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany, and sees the treatment of his fellow mutants as a similar crime. Magneto and company move to stop the passage of the Mutant Registration Act, which seeks to force every mutant to self-identify and face persecution. Magneto’s plan to resolve this issue isn’t to kill everyone involved or bomb the White House. Instead, he seeks to transform the anti-mutant legislators into mutants, forcing them to contend with an identity that they, like their new peers, never asked for. This plan falls apart due to the unstable workings of the machine, but transforming prejudiced lawmakers into the target of their systemic oppression is a brilliant move.
Alonzo Harris – Training Day
Denzel Washington’s corrupt LAPD Detective doesn’t get a lot of credit for his success as a master manipulator. Sure, the way Harris gets into the situation that drives the film’s narrative isn’t particularly smart, but the way he endeavors to get out of it is very clever.
Harris finds himself deep in debt to the Russian mob and his life is on the line if he can’t come up with $1 million in 24 hours. Harris intricately plots out his one day with Ethan Hawke’s Jake Hoyt to get away with the cash and leave his underling dead. Harris forces Jake to smoke laced marijuana at gunpoint for blackmail material. He falsifies search warrants to steal from drug dealers, then flips that cash to hunt down a more valuable target. After stealing the money he needs, he guns down his victim with the help of fellow corrupt cops. Finally, he leaves Hoyt to die at the hands of a criminal. Hoyt only survives because he saved the criminal’s family member earlier that day, a complete chance encounter. Harris’s plan was almost perfect, but Hoyt’s good nature and good luck did him in.
Dalton Russell – Inside Man
Denzel Washington returns, but this time, he’s on the other side of the cunning plot. Spike Lee’s 2006 heist film is almost entirely built around one feature-length bank robbery. The heist in question is one of the more complex ones in the genre. Over 24 hours, Dalton Russell and his fleet of conspirators stage a massive hostage negotiation in pursuit of a single mysterious deposit box.
Russell and company dress hostages in matching garb to blend in, stage fake executions, set off smoke bombs, and walk out as a group. The cops detain hostages and perpetrators alike, but, unable to tell the difference and unclear as to whether a crime had been committed, let everyone go. Russell’s final act reveal sees him hiding behind a fake wall in the vault and only stealing the incriminating box that the bank owner wished to hide. This is a masterful heist film and a perfectly executed scheme.
Simon Gruber – Die Hard with a Vengeance
Hans Gruber’s son shares his father’s knack for excellent schemes. While the third film in the franchise is inarguably inferior to the original, Simon’s plan holds up very well. Gruber submits a challenge to the NYPD, threatening to bomb an elementary school if he’s ignored. This keeps John McClane and the rest of the force either obeying his orders or searching every school.
Meanwhile, Simon is busily robbing the Federal Reserve Bank, taking hundreds of billions in gold from an area without any schools. He even ferrets out the cash in dump trucks to remain inconspicuous. The only thing he did wrong was involve John McClane, whose knowledge of his family and plot-relevant cop superpowers allow him to guess Simon’s master plan.
H.Y.D.R.A. – The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Everyone has already heard everything great about Thanos, but an alien who was born capable of fighting The Hulk has a slightly less impressive rise to power. In the MCU, H.Y.D.R.A. is responsible for basically every bad thing between 1941 and the modern day.
Thanks to the very real 1949 American intelligence program Operation Paperclip, Nazis were hired by the US Government. This allowed H.Y.D.R.A. to embed its agents into the highest offices of government worldwide. The eventual end to this scheme would’ve seen around 20 million deaths. They were only stopped through the effort of Captain America and his allies. If it weren’t for a handful of heroes, the entire worldwide military infrastructure would be guilty of countless innocent deaths.
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