Revenge might be a dish best served cold, but these films all delivered red-hot justice.
Whether it was an entire film's worth of elaborate plotting and execution or a single moment
of sweet revenge, here are some of the greatest acts of revenge in movies ever.
The Gift
Joel Edgerton made his big-screen directorial debut with 2015's The Gift, where he plays
Gordo, a seemingly sad sack who runs into an old high school acquaintance named Simon,
played by Jason Bateman.
Gordo turns into something of an unwanted shadow for the man and his wife Robyn, but
eventually, Gordo's kookiness becomes more worrisome than weird.
As Simon’s secrets come to light, Gordo steps up his psyche-unraveling campaign of
terror, including sending Simon disturbing footage of his wife being drugged by Gordo
nine months before the birth of her baby.
In retaliation for a casual act of cruelty that caused Gordo unfathomable pain, he makes
Simon's question whether or not his child is actually even his.
Now that's what you call a mind game.
The Help
The Help from 2011 is set in the middle of Mississippi during the civil rights movement.
Octavia Spencer plays Minny, the long-suffering maid to the horrible Hilly, a self-declared
moral authority who leads the community charge to segregate in-home bathrooms.
Minny is fired for using the guest restroom rather than brave a storm to access the outhouse
facilities, but she makes Hilly eat her words by cooking her a chocolate pie that contains
a new special ingredient.
Minny's...well...poop.
It sounds foul, but it's actually quite a delicious moment to watch as Hilly's brain
catches up with her ears and understands what she's just been told about the dessert she's
still ravenously chowing down.
Inglourious Basterds
Vigilante justice is an essential element in many of Quentin Tarantino's movies, but
Inglourious Basterds tops Tarantino's catalogue of excellent revenge moments.
It’s a blood-soaked take on World War II-styled vengeance against some of history's most reprehensible
villains.
From Shosanna's orchestrated torching of the Führer…
"Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha"
...to Donny "Bear Jew" Donowitz's merciless beatdown of an remorseless SS officer, to
Lt. Aldo Raine carving a swastika into Hans Landa's forehead, Basterds dispenses justice
in ways that only make the intense violence that much more entertaining.
Wanted
It’s a scene that makes Jerry Maguire's office exit speech seem like a note with a
smiley face left on the company fridge.
In Wanted, Wesley politely announces his departure from the corporate world…
"Some loser gets his head blown off at the Metropolitan."
"SHUT THE F*%K UP!"
...and heads for the exit with his ripped-out computer keyboard in hand.
His buddy and co-worker Barry, who's befuddled by what Wesley's just said to their boss,
goes for the high five and gets a QWERTY to the face instead.
Appropriate, since Barry had been sleeping with Wesley’s girlfriend.
Wesley doubles down in his vengeance by making out with the badass beauty Fox, played by
Angelina Jolie, right in front of her.
Man on Fire
In the 2004 action-drama Man on Fire, a retired CIA operative named John Creasy, played by
Denzel Washington, takes a gig as the bodyguard-slash-babysitter of a nine-year-old girl named Pita, but comes
to find that the job entails a lot more than mere child's play.
When Pita is kidnapped, Creasy gets to work finding and systematically slaughtering her
captors.
In the movie’s most memorable revenge scene, Creasy ties a potential kidnapper down to
a car and, well…
"C4, highly explosive.
You put them all together and you got a bomb.
Not very sophisticated but very powerful.
That's what you have in your ass right now."
The perp spills the beans, but Creasy is unforgiving.
Never mess with Denzel.
Road to Perdition
This Depression-era drama, Road to Perdition, follows Mafia enforcer Michael Sullivan, played
by Tom Hanks, seeking justice for his wife and child, who were murdered by his mentor’s
son, Connor, played by Daniel Craig.
With his surviving son in tow, Sullivan works his way through the deadly crime syndicate
to find Connor and make him pay.
The journey is filled with treachery and devastation, but in the end, the parties who deserve it
get theirs—even Sullivan, whose son watches him pay the ultimate sacrifice for his life
of violence.
The Shawshank Redemption
When the word “redemption” is in the title, you can probably be sure that things will
turn around by the end of the movie, and the 40-year saga of Andy Dufresne's false imprisonment
is no exception.
While the man who actually committed the murders for which Andy is convicted is eventually
imprisoned, he isn't the one who earns Andy's true wrath.
Instead, it’s Shawshank’s Warden Norton, who has the opportunity to free Andy after
evidence of his wrongful imprisonment comes to light.
Instead of doing so, Norton punishes Andy further—all the while, relying on Andy to
cook his books so he can launder money under the name “Randall Stephens”.
After Andy escapes to freedom, he adopts the Randall Stephens alias to siphon off the warden’s
ill-gotten loot, and turns evidence of Norton's crimes over to the feds, leaving the warden
no choice but to off himself in his own office.
John Wick
A grieving widower receives a strange present one day: an adorable little puppy, the final
gift from his dead wife, and a chance for him to start over and appreciate life despite
his loss.
That's how 2014's John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves starts out.
It doesn't take long, however, for the son of a Russian mob boss to break into Wick's
house, kill his puppy, and beat him to a pulp — all so he can steal his car.
Big mistake.
"Cause he stole John Wicks car sir, and ah, killed his dog."
"oh"
That's when the viewers find out who John Wick really is: one of the most fearsome and
effective hitmen to ever retire from the business.
"People keep asking if I'm back and I haven't really had an answer.
But now, yeah, I'm thinking I'm back."
What follows is one of the best, most action-packed revenge movies in recent history, featuring
Wick taking out the Russian mob piece by piece.
When Wick finally catches up to the creep who killed his dog, he takes out his bodyguards
with a sniper rifle, blows up his getaway cars, and shoots him in the guts, all before
finally putting a bullet in his head while he's mid-sentence.
"это был просто"
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