10 Brilliant Movie Villains Defeated In The DUMBEST Way Possible
These guys didn't go out with a bang.
After watching a movie villain toy with the hero, murder civilians or threaten the world, the audience would feel cheated if the story didn't conclude with them getting their comeuppance.
From a screenwriter's point of view, killing off the hero's nemesis is harder than you would imagine. The antagonist simply can't meet their end in a mundane or generic way.
How anticlimactic would it be if Darth Vader or Thanos died by being shot or stabbed? Kicking the bucket for baddies of this calibre needs to be a bit more creative.
If executed perfectly (literally), the death of a villain can be one of the most satisfying moments in the entire story. Whether you loved or loathed Gollum, King Kong or Khan, you felt something when they finally shuffled off the mortal coil.
But this isn't always the case. There are times where The Big Bad's death doesn't work. This might be because their demise is unoriginal, over-the-top, or unintentionally hilarious. Even the best and most memorable villains can be ruined because the writers decided to kill them off in the dumbest way possible.
10. Kananga - Live And Let Die
In Roger Moore's first outing as James Bond in Live and Let Die, 007 is assigned to take down a drug trader called Kananga. Kananga lives under the guise of a restaurant owner while performing his illicit affairs under the alias "Mr. Big."
Yaphet Kotto, who plays the main villain, has the difficult task of playing three roles. He plays the charismatic Kananga while in the public eye, the ruthless drug lord, Mr. Big, and Kananga as he actually is; an unscrupulous and manipulative dictator. Kotto is so good at playing these personas, the viewer never suspects Mr. Big and Kananga are one and the same.
It's such a shame Kotto's performance is overshadowed by the character's preposterous death. While scuffling with Kananga, Bond stuffs a gas pellet into his mouth, forcing him to expand like a balloon until he bursts.
Not only does the inflated Kananga prop look fake, there's no blood when he explodes, making it look even less convincing. The death seems so uncharacteristically comical, it would be more suited in a Monty Python sketch than in the Bond franchise.
The filmmakers should've had Kananga bite the big one by being eaten by sharks, just like in Ian Fleming's novel.