15 Revenge Movies That Deliver Sweet Satisfaction
Although we rarely experience satisfying revenge in real life against those who wrong us, movies allow us to vicariously experience justified retaliation in the safety of a movie theater or our homes.
People might risk serious consequences to safety and well-being by seeking out revenge in the real world, but movie characters such as The Bride, the Crow, Furiosa, and John Wick want to right all wrongs — at least for 100 minutes or so.
Revenge becomes a key plot component in many movies, but these 15 films take it to the next level and deliver satisfying comeuppance. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it also tastes great with popcorn and a soda in a darkened theater.
Kill Bill
Is there a more satisfying revenge story than Quentin Tarantino’s two-volume Kill Bill movie? The entire plot focuses on The Bride’s (Uma Thurman) “kill list” of the assassins who left her for dead at her wedding rehearsal, which is how she got her nickname.
Beatrix tracks them down one by one and overcomes unbelievable obstacles to face Bill (David Carradine) — the former leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and father of Beatrix’s daughter. When it’s all over, and the music swells, audiences will feel so satisfied that they’ll want a cigarette — even if they don’t smoke.
Gladiator
In Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, Russell Crowe plays Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius who suffers betrayal when Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) murders his emperor father, seizes the throne, and forces Maximus into slavery as a gladiator. Did we mention that Commodus also murders Maximus’ wife and young son? Yeah…
When Maximus drives a knife into Commodus’ throat, try not to get too elated.
John Wick
Early in the first movie of the John Wick series, retired hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) mourns the death of his wife and finds comfort in the beagle puppy she gave him. Russian gangsters break into John’s home, assault him, and kill said puppy.
If a director wants to get an audience on the side of his movie protagonist and accept his brutal brand of retaliation, kill a dog. It works every time, and John Wick kept dishing out poetic justice for four movies.
Mad Max: Fury Road
In this Mad Max sequel, Charlize Theron plays Imperator Furiosa — a warrior woman with a shaved head and mechanical arm who rescues a group of young women kept as baby machines by warlord Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).
Furiosa’s mission to free the brides and get revenge against the revolting pig Immortan Joe is so compelling that Max (Tom Hardy) literally takes a backseat in the movie that bears his name. The car chases are long, the brutality is visceral, but Furiosa’s triumph is exhilarating.
Django Unchained
Just a heads-up that Quentin Tarantino’s name will pop up more than a few times in this article. In the director’s Django Unchained, Jamie Foxx plays Django Freeman — a slave who trains with a German dentist turned bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) with the hope of reuniting with his wife.
Along the way the duo encounter the cruel plantation owner Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), who forces male slaves to battle to the death in fights for entertainment. When Candie gets his just dessert, viewers will cheer.
Oldboy
In Park Chan-wook’s South Korean action-thriller Oldboy, Choi Min-sik plays Oh Dae-su — a man imprisoned in a hotel-like cell for 15 years without knowing his captors or the reason for his confinement.
After Dae-su’s release, he comes to the horrific realization that his mysterious captor has set him up to fall in love with his own daughter. That level of twisted psychological and emotional torture demands unrestrained retaliation, which Dae-su justifiably delivers.
Inglourious Basterds
In several Quentin Tarantino movies, the director presents an alternate history of world events. In Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino imagines what might have happened to Adolf Hitler had he become trapped in a Paris movie theater operated by a Jewish woman whose family was killed by Hitler’s goons (hint: it involves a lot of burning and screaming).
Christoph Waltz, who plays a smug, ruthless Austrian SS officer, also gets what he deserves (i.e., scalped) at the hands of Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt).
The Revenant
Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for his performance as frontiersman Hugh Glass in Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s harrowing action-drama The Revenant. After getting mauled by a bear and left for dead by his dubious companions, a horribly injured Glass struggles to navigate harsh weather and hostile Native Americans to face John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the jerk who convinced everyone to leave Glass behind.
DiCaprio is so good at making viewers feel the difficulty of Glass’ journey that when he finally catches up with Fitzgerald, audiences want to jump through the screen and scalp him themselves.
V for Vendetta
Set in a near-future U.K. ruled by a totalitarian regime, V for Vendetta stars Hugo Weaving as V — a vigilante in a Guy Fawkes mask who wants to ignite a revolution by committing acts of terrorism. Natalie Portman plays Evey Hammond, a young woman who gets entangled in V’s mission and becomes sympathetic to his cause.
As the United States inches closer to a government that takes away personal freedoms like the one depicted in V for Vendetta, it’s difficult not to jump out of your seat when Evey helps V fulfill his dying wish by blowing up Parliament.
Taken
In the action-thriller Taken, Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA agent with a “very particular set of skills” who must rescue his daughter and her friend after they are kidnapped by Albanian human traffickers while traveling in France.
Does any well-adjusted person have a soft spot for human traffickers? We can’t think of one, which is why watching Mills tear through them like tissue paper is more cathartic than shocking.
The Crow
In this 1994 gothic superhero film based on the comic book of the same name, Brandon Lee plays Eric Draven — a rock musician who is murdered along with his fiancée on Halloween night. A year later, a crow imbued with supernatural powers helps Eric return from the grave to exact his revenge on those responsible.
If the story itself isn’t enough to get you cheering for Eric, knowing that Lee accidentally died on set raises the stakes even more. If Eric doesn’t take care of business by the time the end credits roll, audiences might don some mime makeup, dig up a leather outfit, and go out and right some wrongs.
Memento
In Christopher Nolan’s Memento, Guy Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, a man with short-term amnesia unable to form new memories. To help him track down who killed his wife and gave him this condition, Leonard leaves himself a series of photographs, notes, and messages in tattoos to guide him since he won’t remember otherwise.
This mind-bending story keeps viewers guessing how Leonard got this condition and whom he should and should not trust. The audience roots for Leonard to get justice — he just needs to make sure to target the right person.
Carrie
Brian De Palma’s Carrie adapts the Stephen King novel of the same name about the titular high school girl (Sissy Spacek) with telekinetic abilities and an overbearing, religious mother (Piper Laurie).
No one likes bullies, and Carrie White is bullied relentlessly at school. Things seem to look up for her after a popular boy asks her to prom and they are crowned king and queen. That’s when a vile classmate humiliates Carrie onstage by drenching her in a bucket of pig’s blood from above.
Carrie finally cracks and burns the whole school to the ground with everyone in it. Well, most of them had it coming, anyway.
Hard Candy
In the 2005 psychological thriller Hard Candy, Elliot Page plays a 14-year-old girl who traps and tortures a man (Patrick Wilson) whom she suspects is a sexual predator.
More than a few audience members have watched the reality series To Catch a Predator, but director David Slade’s Hard Candy takes the concept to the next level. Here, the intended victim turns the tables on her attacker and gives him a taste of his own depravity.
The Punisher
In the 2004 vigilante action film The Punisher, Thomas Jane plays the antihero Frank Castle and John Travolta plays crime boss Howard Saint. The latter massacres Castle’s entire family at a family reunion in Puerto Rico, which understandably vexes Frank…deeply.
Several incarnations of The Punisher have hit the big and small screen, but the revenge enacted by Castle in this version directed by Jonathan Hensleigh feels more satisfying because Travolta’s Saint is such a despicable character. In a voice-over at the end, Castle embraces his new identity as the Punisher and promises to mow down anyone who harms the innocent. Sounds great!
