5 Movie Villains Whose Punishments Were Far Too Severe

By Stephen Higham / November 5, 2017

Movie Villains - the staples of any good film. Directors and screenwriters across the years have understood the necessity of creating an antagonist, if one comes across as vile, cruel and detestable enough they can garner more love and hate from audiences than the most virtuous heroes. The likes of Darth Vader, Gollum and Scar add so much to their tales by existing as dark reflections of their heroic rivals. Bringing new dimension to the themes and messages of their films but each paying the price for their sins in the end. This list looks at the villains who got sold short. The ones who didn't order the murders of innocent moisture farmers or set giant spiders on their friends. These are the 5 movie villains whose murders were far too severe.

5. René Belloq From Raiders of the Lost Ark

Part of the joy of Indiana Jones is the fact that he really is, more or less a dick, a lovable roguish dick but a dick nonetheless. We get to watch him demean women, steal ancient relics and murder people. I guess my point is that if he's the hero then poor Belloq really picked the wrong side of the coin when Spielberg flipped it to decide which of the archaeologists we were going to root for.

Lets take a look at Belloq's crimes; the charming rogue outwits his rival, using his wits and knowledge of minor cultures in order to rightfully claim a golden idol; he performs a citizen's arrest on a young woman who had just attacked a man with a frying pan; he allied himself with the Nazis... OK, I'll give Spielberg that but Indiana Jones would find himself assisting the Russians in finding a hypnotic skull mere decades later. I hope you agree with me that Belloq's eventual fate of having his head explode and no doubt getting damned to hell for all eternity was a tad harsh.