20 Greatest Movie Villains Of The 2000s

There are so many potential routes to take when it comes to crafting a good antagonist. There are some unmitigated evils on this list, shoulder to shoulder with those that were more misunderstood or hard done by. Then there are those that are relatable to the point of having audiences kind of rooting for them.

In Law Abiding Citizen, when Clyde Shelton's (Gerard Butler) wife and daughter were killed in front of him, he was denied proper justice because Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) didn't want to risk a loss damaging his conviction statistics. What followed was a revenge journey for Shelton, though not in the way most villains would have gone.

What separated Gerard Butler's character, and what made him unique, was that he didn't just target those who let him down; he wanted to raze the whole damn system to the ground. He had the skills, the intelligence, and the resources to do it, and he managed to bring the entire city of Philadelphia to its knees.

He could have killed Nick at any point, but this was about principles and making a positive change to the justice system that people who were wronged depended on. Of course, he took things too far, and his methods certainly earned him the status of villain, but who could say they wouldn't have felt the same feelings in his shoes?