DreamWorks Animation's latest film The Bad Guys has been an unexpected hit, with critics and audiences loving the movie's madcap humor and likable but scummy characters. It also proves that sometimes the best protagonists are not good people at all, but out-and-out villains who are as fun and compelling as any great hero.
While Hollywood screenwriting typically adheres to the idea that a protagonist must be likable and sympathetic, plenty of films have found a way around that rule. Flying in the face of tradition, these movies proved that even the most villainous lead characters can still strike a chord with fans.
Nightcrawler (2014)
One of the most unique directorial debuts of the past decade, Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler is the story of Lou Bloom, a petty criminal turned photojournalist who gets too involved in the violent stories he's covering. It was a wonderful and radically against-type role for Jake Gyllenhaal, leaving many shocked when he did not receive an Oscar nomination.
One of the things that makes Lou so great is that he suckers the viewer into thinking he's an eccentric but good guy, being awkwardly charming and having an exciting job. But as the layers are peeled back, it becomes clear that he's a thoroughly evil man who will stop at nothing to make a quick buck, including brutally betraying people to get a better camera shot.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
Bryan Singer's crime classic The Usual Suspects is justly known for its famous twist ending, in which nervous, mild-mannered Verbal Kint turns out to have been the legendary Keyser Söze the whole time. What makes the twist so impressive is how it truly changes everything about the movie, from the story of a meek survivor to that of an almost devil-like figure.
Seeing Söze introduced by killing his own family makes it clear that he's someone not to be trifled with, the opposite of the persona he's adopted to betray his partners in crime. While his name is tarnished now, Kevin Spacey's performance as Verbal is still fantastic, making Verbal very sympathetic until his deliciously evil final scene.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaking genius, and his prodigious skill on the page and behind the camera shines through even in his debut. Like all of his subsequent films, Reservoir Dogs stars a cast of characters who are morally ambiguous, if not outright evil, and endlessly watchable.
The film's heist crew runs the gamut of non-heroism, from the fairly-noble-but-still-criminal Mr. White to the coldly murderous Mr. Blonde, but none of them are anyone's idea of a good guy. Even with all their witty banter and humanizing moments, scenes like Blonde's torture of Officer Marvin Nash show that these guys live in a dark world where viciousness is the rule.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)
Michael Rooker is a beloved character actor with a decades-long career in film and TV, but audiences mainly familiar with his work on The Walking Dead and Guardians of the Galaxy will have haunted nightmares after watching Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
Loosely based on the confessions of real-life killer Henry Lee Lucas, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a stark deconstruction of the common Hollywood serial killer archetype. Henry's neither charming nor hyper-intelligent, but a sadistic thug who kills without reason, even when his victims are innocent children.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange was hugely controversial on its initial release for its violent content but slowly gained a cult following and is now regarded as a classic dystopian film. Even over fifty years later, A Clockwork Orange still holds up as a disturbing look into the psyche of a proudly immoral youth, and what society does to break him down.
Alex DeLarge is about as evil as a protagonist can get, an ultra-violence obsessed rapist who cares nothing about the people he destroys. However, Malcolm McDowell's performance imbues him with some surprising layers, and the terror he experiences during the infamous Ludovico treatment scenes is enough to almost make the viewer feel sorry for him.
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Billy Wilder was one of the most versatile directors of old Hollywood, and the film noir drama Ace in the Hole is one of his masterpieces. The film was ahead of its time in its portrayal of the cutthroat world of journalism, in which anything goes as long as one can get a good story.
Kirk Douglas' Chuck Tatum almost feels like he'd be at home in a 50s version of Nightcrawler, happily stringing en entire town along in delaying a man's rescue just so he can keep the news coverage going for personal gain. But unlike Lou Bloom, he ultimately has a conscience, and seeing him break down at realizing that he's getting a man killed is genuinely poignant.
Goodfellas (1990)
Of all the films to spotlight the criminal lifestyle, Goodfellas may be the one to best strike an important balance, making even its most despicable characters entertaining to watch without any of the romanticism that makes its lesser imitators ring hollow.
Few filmmakers do mob movies as well as Martin Scorsese, and Henry Hill is one of his most nuanced characters, never killing anyone and having genuine love for his wife and daughters while still being a lying, philandering cad who never truly regrets being a gangster. The last scene has Henry in witness protection complaining about how he can't live the high life anymore, showing that even someone who's not truly evil might have no interest in redemption when crime pays so well.
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966)
While no one can beat the iconic status of Clint Eastwood's "Man with No Name" Blondie, Tuco is ultimately just as much the protagonist of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, if not more. Even though he's an unapologetic bandit with a very long rap sheet, Eli Wallach's lovable miscreant is an immensely entertaining character, providing many of the movie's best quotes.
Not only is Tuco hilarious and charming, but there's also more to him than meets the eye. One of the movie's best scenes comes when Tuco meets his brother and pours his heart out about how he turned to crime because he didn't have a choice, giving him some surprising dimension that makes him even more memorable.
The Godfather (1972)
The crown jewel of New Hollywood and an all-time classic, The Godfather is one of the most influential films of the 1970s, setting a new standard for gangster films that few have even come close to matching. More than being a mere mafia story, it also works great as both a family saga and a hero's journey to villainy, exemplified by Corleone's youngest son, Michael.
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Ironically for a movie beloved by actual gangsters, The Godfather ultimately portrays the Mafia as a sordid business, and for all Michael effort's to stay clean, he can't escape his calling. By the climax, in which he orders a series of brutal, nasty hits on New York City's dons, he's fully embraced the role of arch-villain and only sinks lower in Part II.
Taxi Driver (1976)
A lonely, depressed man slowly going off the deep end into vigilantism, Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle is a complex, fully realized character who is both deeply sympathetic and frightening. In contrast to many other vigilantes on film, Bickle is clearly no good guy, even his most "heroic" actions, like his rescue of Iris, are played for maximum horror.
Still, one can easily tell that he's lived a life filled with trauma, and his long breakdown makes him easy to identify with for anyone who's experienced mental illness. It's a testament to the work of Scorsese, De Niro, and writer Paul Schrader that Taxi Driver still holds up so well today, with Bickle's story still having the power to shock, disturb, and engage.