10 Awesome Movie Moments Where You Think The Villain Might Actually Win

9. "It's Gonna Be Biblical" - Law Abiding Citizen

Law Abiding Citizen Gerard Butler
Overture Films

Law Abiding Citizen is a terrific guilty pleasure movie in which bereaved engineer Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler) becomes a vigilante while seeking vengeance for the murder of his wife and daughter.

Shelton strikes back against the corrupt legal system throughout the film, killing anyone who gets in his way while thoroughly toying with his bureaucratic former attorney Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) in order to demonstrate the hypocrisy of American law.

Shelton's methods are brutal, no question, but he's an extremely easy character to root for when the only alternative is Foxx's thoroughly unlikable lawyer. Yet dollars to donuts, Shelton is supposed to be the movie's bad guy.

This all culminates in a fantastic end-of-second-act speech where Shelton tells Rice, "I'm gonna bring the whole f**king diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It's gonna be biblical."

It's a delicious "I am Death, destroyer of worlds"-type speech that perfectly sets the stage for act three, where the audience largely hopes Shelton will indeed burn the entire system to the ground.

Sadly, that's not quite what happens, as his attempt to blow up City Hall ends with Rice sneaking the bomb into Shelton's own prison cell, instead blowing him to smithereens. How disappointing.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.