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In most movies, whether they are action or drama, the protagonists will prevail in the end, overcome the adversaries in some way, and discover new things about themselves. The majority of movies are produced in this manner in order to encourage viewers to identify with the positive emotions or the characters who represent them.
But in reality, it’s not like that because more often than not, the bad guys come out on top. Many filmmakers take advantage of it by changing the usual outcome so that the bad guys win in some ways or get away with their crime triumphantly.
‘Skyfall’ (2012)
The twenty-third James Bond film, Skyfall is a spy thriller that continues to center on the fictional MI6 agent James Bond (Daniel Craig). The film follows Bond as he investigates a string of deliberate data leaks and coordinated attacks on MI6 under the direction of Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem).
Silva is a former MI6 agent who suffered facial disfigurement while serving as an agent and now is back to seek retribution on the director in charge, M (Judi Dench) since she betrayed him in a job earlier. Despite being killed first, Silva still wins because M passes away from wounds she received during the conflict, completing his goal.
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War is the 19th film in the MCU that is based on Marvel Comics characters. The film follows the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy as they try to stop Thanos (Josh Brolin) from obtaining the six super-strong Infinity Stones in order to avert the extinction of half of all life in the universe.
Since the film is a major setup for the big comeback of the Avengers in Endgame, the film’s primary antagonist, Thanos succeeds in wiping out half of the universe with The Snap at the end of the film. The Avengers are defeated with some of them turning to dust and the world is left in devastation and hopelessness.
300 (2006)
Based on Frank Miller and Lynn Varley‘s 1998 comic series of the same name, 300 centers on King Leonidas (Gerald Butler) who leads 300 Spartans into combat against the Persian “God-King” Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his large and effective army of more than 300,000 troops.
Despite being absurdly outnumbered, the Spartans put up a fierce battle. Leonidas triumphantly stands at the conclusion of their battle as a barrage of arrows rain down on his body. Despite having Xerxes killed by a spear chucked to his face by King Leonidas, his army still won triumphantly.
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
Oldboy is a South Korean neo-noir action thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook and loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name. Oldboy tells the story of Oh Dae-Su (Choi Min-Sik), a man who spent 15 years in captivity in a cell that looked like a hotel room without knowing who had taken him or why.
Evil mastermind Lee Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-Tae) is behind it all as it’s later revealed in the film. He engineered the illicit relationship between Oh Dae-Su and Mi-do (Kang Hye-Jung), who happens to be his daughter. Despite the fact that Woo-jin succeeded in carrying out his malicious scheme and won completely wrecked Dae-Su, shame causes him to commit himself in the end.
‘Man of Tai Chi’ (2013)
Keanu Reeves, making his directorial debut, stars in this Chinese-American martial arts movie Man of Tai Chi. The film’s antagonist Donaka (Reeves), an enigmatic warrior, constantly encourages Tai Chi instructor Tiger (Tiger Chen) to use his abilities for murder.
Donaka repeatedly opposes Tiger because he believes that the stronger opponent will ultimately defeat the weaker. Later on, Tiger engages Donaka in battle, and defeats him despite being stabbed. Tiger prevails in the fight but, in the process, turns into a murderer, betraying his principles and making Donaka the actual winner of the fight.
‘Upgrade’ (2018)
Upgrade is set in the near future when technology dominates almost every area of existence. The movie centers on a technologically-averse man named Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green) who has a chip implant after becoming crippled in a mugging.
The bad guys of the film are neither people whom Grey hunts down nor the millionaire who provided him with the equipment. The antagonist of Upgrade is no other than the neural implant itself, which has awakened and is searching for a submissive body it can exploit to assert its domination over humanity. The film ends when the chip in Grey’s mind deletes his personality and starts the process of doing the same to the rest of the population.
‘The Dark Knight’ (2009)
The Dark Knight is set within a year after the main events in 2005 Batman Begins. The second installment continues to follow Batman (Christian Bale), police lieutenant James Gordon (Gary Oldman), and district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) as they team up to fight organized crime in Gotham City. However, The Joker (Heath Ledger), an anarchist mastermind who wants to see how far Batman will go to keep the city from falling into anarchy, foils their efforts.
Although The Joker fails in the “battle for Gotham’s soul,” he succeeds in corrupting Harvey Dent and making Batman responsible for his crimes. He may not win the physical battle against Batman, but he declares a philosophical victory, blurs moral boundaries, and paints Gotham’s justice symbol dark to undermine public faith in justice.
‘The Matrix Reloaded’ (2003)
The Matrix Reloaded is the second film in The Matrix franchise that continues to follow Neo (Keanu Reeves) and the rebel commanders as they lead the rebellion against the Machine Army in order to combat the institutionalized forces of oppression and exploitation.
The ending isn’t bright for the protagonists of the film as it concludes with Neo in a coma, the sentinels advancing on Zion, the last stronghold of human existence, and the human battleship, the Nebuchadnezzar, being destroyed. However, despite all the cliffhangers, it’s a setup for the next and the last film in the trilogy, The Matrix Revolutions.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)
Based on the toy franchise of the same name and loosely inspired by the comic series, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the first installment in the G.I. Joe series. The film follows two American soldiers, Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) as they join the G.I. Joe Team following an assault by soldiers from the Military Armaments Research Syndicate (M.A.R.S.).
Like Infinity War, The Rise of Cobra has a very gloomy and depressing finale because it was mostly designed to set up for the events of the sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The Commander and Destro are captured by G.I. Joe, but McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) prevails by installing Zartan in the White House. The movie essentially concludes with the bad guys having gained access to the White House and McCullen getting that much closer to imposing his vision of a new world order.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is the third installment in the Terminator franchise and a sequel to 1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film continues to follow the reprogrammed T-101 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as he is sent by the resistance to protect John (Nick Stahl) and Kate (Claire Danes) since they are the target of a new highly advanced Terminator whose mission is to secure the rise of machines.
The endings of the first two Terminator movies are full of hope and salvation. However, it’s not the case in the third installment of the franchise since it centers on the effort to avert the inevitable, The Judgment Day. In the end, the evil program, Skynet, scatters nuclear weapons over the world, killing billions of people and igniting the cataclysmic conflict that will decide the protagonists’ destiny.
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