10 Movie Cliches Everybody Hates
8. The Villain Planned To Get Caught All Along!
This is a relatively recent cliche albeit one that's been done to death over a brief period.
We've all seen movies where the villain gets captured mid-way through, but - surprise! - it's then revealed that they intended to get caught, and it was merely another step in their master plan. Cue the baddie escaping so they can set-up the third act finale, and Bob's your uncle!
Take Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight saga: The Joker (Heath Ledger) allows himself to be arrested in The Dark Knight only to stage an elaborate, explosive escape, and Bane (Tom Hardy) was absolutely a voluntary prisoner at the start of The Dark Knight Rises.
In fact, 2012 was a banner year for the cliche, with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) allowing himself to be captured in The Avengers in order to allow The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to run riot on the Helicarrier. Elsewhere, Skyfall's Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) touted a hyper-convoluted plan that involved being caught so he could hack MI6 and attempt to kill M (Judi Dench).
It's one of those conceits that often works well in the moment when you're busy being overwhelmed by the spectacle of the villain's capture and escape, but it's decidedly less enjoyable on repeat viewings when the outcome is known and you're more likely to pick the logic clean.
Thankfully the trope became so infamous so fast that it's actually pretty rare these days, but don't be surprised if the MCU tries it again sometime in the near-future.