Hollywood movies where villains emerged victorious
For the most part, Hollywood has maintained a standard structure when it comes to a film plot i.e., hero versus villain, where the former will likely emerge the winner. Some filmmakers, tired of feeding the audience the same sauce, take a detour, reminding us that heroes don't always win in the real world. Here are some Hollywood movies where the villains won.
Heath Ledger's Joker in 'The Dark Knight'
Christopher Nolan's 2008 movie The Dark Knight redefined how we see 'villains,' thanks to Heath Ledger's incredible machiavellian portrayal of Joker. His scheme drives Gotham into chaos, corrupts the seemingly incorruptible Harvey Dent, and manages to drive Batman into hiding. While Nolan doesn't give a definite death to Joker's character, in the end, he achieved what he set out to do—create mayhem!
Edward Norton as Aaron Stampler in 1996's 'Primal Fear'
The movie revolves around Ricard Gere's character trying to prove to the court that his client Edward Norton's Aaron Stampler, who has dissociative identity disorder, is not guilty of murdering his priest, but that it was his different personality, Roy, who committed the crime. Cut to the end, we see Aaron's disorder was just an act to fool all and get away with murder.
South Korea's epic 2003 thriller 'Oldboy'
Oldboy, starring Choi Min-sik, is a Korean revenge thriller that might not be to everyone's taste. To exact revenge for his sister's suicide after Oh Dae-su (Choi) exposes his incestuous relationship with her, Lee Woo-jin imprisons Oh, using a hypnotist to lead Oh into an incestuous relationship with Oh's daughter. Before taking his own life, Lee reveals the truth, ruining Oh's entire existence.
Guy Pearce in 'Memento'
An underrated Christopher Nolan movie, Mememto, starring Guy Pearce, is about a seemingly mourning lover with anterograde amnesia who vows to avenge his girlfriend's murder. It is however revealed he is the killer, but somehow his twisted mind managed to convince itself that he is on an eternal quest to find the real killers. Ghajini starring Aamir Khan is a loose adaptation of it.
Hans Landa in 'Inglourious Basterds'
Aside from the Swastika carving on his forehead, Hans Landa, one of Quentin Tarantino's finer villains, does get away without paying a dime for his war crimes. After betraying the Nazi party for his freedom, Landa gets to live a life of freedom in the US, potentially as the man who supposedly helped win World War II.
