13 Movie Protagonists You're Desperate To See Lose
The movie heroes we were never rooting for.
In most screenplays, the protagonist is the backbone of the story, the main point of audience identification. Cinema is filled with lovable, sympathetic heroes who everyone wanted to win - Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Ellen Ripley, George Bailey, Atticus Finch... and then there's the other side of the coin. The unlikable, unsympathetic protagonists - the ones you wanted to lose.
Year in and year out, many films get criticized for the characters being unlikable but is an unsympathetic protagonist always a bad thing? Absolutely not. Many of cinema's greatest leads might not be likeable per se, but they are fascinating, mesmerizing characters you couldn't look away from.
At the same time, it can be harder to enjoy a story if you hope the lead will fail, and characters who were supposed to be likeable but aren't often drag their movies right down.
The following 13 movie protagonists vary hugely - from loathsome high-schoolers to arrogant scientists, from repellent CGI animals to evil, sociopathic killers. The one that unites them is that, for better or for worse, you'll hope they fail miserably in their respective quests. They're not Luke Skywalker, that's for sure...
13. Norman - Don't Breathe 2
Occasionally, sequels will turn former villains into the hero. Sometimes, this works out well, as in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. And sometimes, it works out horribly - such was the case with Don't Breathe 2.
In 2016's excellent Don't Breathe, blind Gulf War veteran Norman (terrifically played by Avatar's Stephen Lang) was a ferocious and terrifying killer who made for one of the finest horror movie villains of the past decade. The delayed 2021 sequel, on the other hand, took his character in a woefully misjudged direction. This time around, he's a morally ambiguous protagonist trying to protect his adopted daughter from a criminal gang.
Essentially, this movie will probably only work for those who haven't seen the first film. Otherwise, it is nigh-on impossible to root for the deranged thug who raped and murdered his way through Don't Breathe, especially as the sequel doesn't bother to acknowledge Norman's violent past aside from a brief, throwaway line during the final act.
In many other departments, Don't Breathe 2 is just fine. It is a well-directed revenge thriller with some punchy outbreaks of violence, so there was potential here for sure. More than anything else, this particular case is an example of how just one misjudged creative choice can sink an entire film.