Thursday, February 7, 2013

The Classic Bad Guy

Many things aggravate me about movies, but one of the most aggravating things in a movie is the cliché bad guy. Here are some of the things I find annoying:

1. Unlimited henchmen: Somehow, no matter how obscure the criminal is, they always manage to have an unlimited amount of henchmen.

I understand that there are some underground ways of hiring people but come on! How many backstoryless, completely disposable, henchman can you hire? You should not have more henchman than China has people.

2. Monologue: Does this sound familiar?

Bad guy: I now have you in my grasp Mr. Good Guy, and I could easily kill you with my weapon right now, but instead, I am going to give you time to think of a way out or call back up and tell you my entire plan and backstory. That seems logical.

If you have the one guy who is potentially going to destroy your entire plan, you should take him out as quickly as you can, and if you want to wait, do not tell him your plan. This will never benefit you. Trust me.

3. Aim: Finally, the most aggravating of all aggravating bad guy clichés is terrible aim.

Somehow no matter how trained these bad guys are, they cannot hit the good guy if he was 600 pounds, standing completely still, and standing 3 feet away. They almost always miss. Plus, when they do hit, it is usually a random person that was only put in the movie to die.

Somehow though, the good guys can always get a direct hit. I have no explanation.

So there are a few annoying bad guy traits. Hopefully, one day, these traits will be put to rest.

Comment Question: Are you also annoyed by these clichés? What else would you add to the list? What would other movie clichés annoy you?

-The Anon Blogger

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5 comments:

  1. Hahaha the aiming one always did make me go crazy...and the fact that the heroes will always have unlimited ammo XD

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  2. I have only one comment:
    Don't watch trashy movies

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  3. I'd agree with these. The explaining the plan one is the worst. Oddly enough, I'm actually having that problem in my fantasy novel. Do you mind if I ask your opinion on how to avoid this problem? If no, don't keep reading, and sorry if you're not interested.

    The final climax is the first true meeting between the protagonist and antagonist, in which the protagonist realizes her arch enemy is also the only other survivor of her race. He (the antagonist) is possessed by a maniacal soul. The two are alone while a battle rages outside. The question is, do I have the maniacal soul explain the state of the antagonist to the protagonist? Or should I find a way to explain through the narrator before they meet, and have the protagonist in the dark until the end?

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    Replies
    1. Just a thought in passing - the problem occurs when the bad guy delays killing the hero and boasts about his plan, it's supposed to indicate that he is overconfident in being able to kill the hero, or egotistical in general. There are other versions of the confrontation, for example where the two realise they have something in common e.g. the Doctor Who episode "Dalek" , or where the bad guy tries to recruit the good guy to his side (Return of the Jedi, Skyfall) even though these are also over-used they make more sense.

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  4. In general evil architects do a poor job of designing enemy HQ. You can always make your way directly from the prison cells to the control room through the air conditioning system - schoolboy error.

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