29 Movie Baddies Who Turned Good!

Gollum/Smeagol

The Bad: Poor Smeagol, he really does love that ring doesn’t he. Gollum (Andy Serkis) leads Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) to Mount Doom, but all the while plots the re-capture of his beloved precious and the murder of his travelling partners.

The Good: With Frodo besotted by the Ring’s power, Gollum bites off his finger and then falls into the lava taking the ring with him.

The Lovely: Gollum’s look of joy as he plummets to his death having finally re-captured the ring. If only lava wasn’t so damn unforgiving.

Severus Snape

The Bad: Erm, hello? Working alongside the evil Lord Voldermort (Ralph Fiennes), killing Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) and then taking his position as the new headmaster of Hogwarts.
Surely even Snape wouldn’t sink this low?

The Good: He wouldn’t, actually. It turns out Snape and Dumbledore were working in cahoots the entire time as they looked to protect Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The Lovely: Snape was madly in love with Harry’s mother and vowed to protect her child after she’d passed such was his infatuation with her.
Potter’s dad was apparently a bit of bully to him though. You can’t win them all.

Biff Tannen

The Bad: As George McFly’s (Crispin Glover) boss, bully and all round Hill Valley miscreant, Biff (Thomas F. Wilson) has been asking for a good slap from the day he was born.
None more so than when he forces himself on Lorraine (Lea Thompson) and almost breaks George’s arm before he is finally walloped to the ground by the greatest left hook in cinematic history.

The Good: With the future having been altered by George’s showing of brute strength, Biff is no longer his boss and cites the McFlys as loyal customers to his business who he treats with the up most respect.
He even assists in the preparation of Marty’s car for his big fishing trip with Jennifer (Claudia Wells).

The Lovely: Biff and George partake in some light-hearted banter as Tannen looks to do as little work as possible and Lorraine even credits him with getting the duo together.
She must have forgotten about the whole attempted rape thing then.

Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker

The Bad: Never a contender for father of the galaxy, Darth has not only blown up his daughter’s home planet and attempted to murder his son by this point in the series but still harbours hope of running the galaxy, the dark-sided way.

The Good: Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) efforts to kill Luke (Mark Hamill) are thwarted by Vader, who is then struck by his master’s lightening and dies in his son’s arms, unmasked as Anakin.

The Lovely: Alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda, Anakin’s spirit celebrates the end of the Empire, despite having been an integral member of the regime only moments earlier.

T-Rex

The Bad: He’s a hungry T-Rex who is on the look out for any kind of delicacy to gorge upon. Plus he’s already eaten Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) alive on a toilet and his destruction pretty much knows no bounds.

The Good: Grant (Sam Neil), Ellie (Laura Dern) and Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) grandchildren are cornered by three raptors who are about to pounce and devour each of them, when all of a sudden the T-Rex comes crashing in and single-handedly pummels the creatures, allowing the foursome to escape to a waiting jeep.

The Lovely: The T-Rex’s deafening wail in the entrance hall of the soon to be closed island, which we're sure can be interpreted as; “You’re welcome”.

Gerd Weisler

The Bad: An incredibly effective and loyal communist spy, Weisler (Ulrich Muhe) suspects that the successful playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch) is disloyal to the party and is appointed to watch over every movement he makes.

The Good: Weisler soon realises that his new superior and former classmate Anton Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur) is abusing his power in order to claim Dreyman’s girlfriend Christa-Maria Sieland (Martin Gedeck) as his own, and begins to help the couple escape their voyeuristic torment.

The Lovely: Posing as a fan, Wiesler purposefully meets Christa in a bar and reminds her of her acting prowess, in the process convincing the thespian to return to Dreyman’s arms.

Staff Sergeant Sean Dignam

The Bad: The brazenly foul-mouthed understudy to Martin Sheen’s Captain Queenan launches on-screen amidst a tirade of profanity and insults - each of which are hurtled towards Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio).

The Good: But he’s only doing it to help him out you see.
Dignam hardens the undercover agents via the medium of swears.
He's essentially a human police dog - all bark, teeth and fierce loyalty.
In fact, his devotion to Queenan results in his dismissal from the force.

The Lovely: Dignam’s quest for vengeance see him unleash a swift silenced bullet to the head of Matt Damon’s Sullivan, finally giving the rat the comeuppance he deserved.

Frank Lucas

The Bad: Deadly gangster Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is Harlem’s unofficial leader in Ridley Scott’s late '60s drug epic.
He’s also the world’s premiere heroin dealer, importing it straight from Vietnam in the coffins of dead US soldiers.

The Good: Lucas is finally caught by Det. Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) and decides to assist the police by providing the names of other criminals and various members of the NYPD who have assisted him in his illegal escapades.

The Lovely: In 1984 Richie, who earlier in the film prosecuted Lucas, defends him as his attorney, with the two now close friends.

Inspector Gustav

The Bad: The ultimate jobsworth, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector is constantly at odds with Asa Butterfield’s orphaned Hugo in Marty’s homage to early French cinema.
All the little blighter is after is some food, supplies and hugs!

The Good: Hugo is moments away from being trampled by a train attempting to save his late father’s male automaton invention, but is saved by the Station Inspector yanking him to safety at the last moment.

The Lovely: Allowing Hugo to go with Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley) rather than sending him off to an orphanage.
In the process, Lisette (Emily Mortimer) sees his lighter side and falls in love with him, leaving them to live happily ever after. Presumably.

Lord Moritsugu Katsumoto

The Bad: Ed Zwick’s epic pits the traumatized American soldier Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) against Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe), a samurai-wielding rebel who opposes the rising Western influence on his native land.
Thank God he never had to set sights on the Kardashian clan then.

The Good: Captured after an ill-advised early start to a battle, Algren is taken in by Katsumoto who is impressed by the Yanks spirit and teaches him about the samurai’s way of life.

The Lovely: Katsumoto and Algren fight alongside each other as part of a measly samurai outfit against a mammoth imperial army.
The samurai perishes but still posthumously draws the respect of those who fought him.

Helen Harris III

The Bad: The apparently flawless Helen weasels her way into the position of head Bridesmaid in place of the down on her luck Annie (Kristen Wiig), then has the gall to steal her bridal shower idea.
Oh yeah, she also loses the bride the night before the wedding too.

The Good: Coming to Annie for help and then revealing her own frailties to the wannabe chef, before ultimately locating Lillian (Maya Rudolph) and then making sure she’s at the altar in time.

The Lovely: Helen allows Annie to resume her place as maid of honour and organises one hell of a wedding bash too.
She even arranges for Annie to be picked up from the shindig by her blossoming beau Nathan (Chris O’Dowd). Bless.

Miranda Priestly

The Bad: Effortlessly scary, Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is the editor in chief of Runway magazine and her new assistant, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), has to put up with her various humiliating and bizarre techniques whilst also constantly being ridiculed for her fashion sense.

The Good: After walking out of Runway Andy attends an interview for her dream position at a reputed newspaper, only to find out that Miranda has provided her with a sterling reference that helps her get the job.

The Lovely: After locking eyes with her former aide across a street Miranda pretends to ignore her, but then can’t help but smile when she is alone in her car recalling the times that she spent with her.

Ken

The Bad: Ken (Michael Keaton) seems like a stand-up dude, right up until he is caught by his new girlfriend Barbie assisting Lotso (Ned Beatty) and a reset Buzz Lightyear lock up Jessie, Slinky, Rex et al. Not cool Ken, not cool.

The Good: After Barbie destroys half of Ken’s wardrobe he immediately reveals Lotso’s dastardly plan and then joins Andy’s toys revolution against the strawberry scented bear.

The Lovely: Barbie and Ken are seen running Sunnyside day-care in a much more relaxed fashion compared to the tyrannical regime of Lotso, with each toy caring for each other and taking the punishment of the toddlers in equal doses.

Anton Ego

The Bad: A vicious food critic, Anton (Peter O’Toole) has ruined many a caterer’s career with his caustic words. Plus by downgrading Gusteau’s restaurant from a five to a four-star establishment he sent the portly chef to an early grave. Murderer.

The Good: After eating Remy’s (Patton Oswalt) ratatouille, Ego is instantly transported back to his youth by the vivacity of the dish and requests an audience with the culinary deity who created it.

The Lovely: Anton writes an exquisite review of Gusteau’s that critiques his own livelihood before embarking on a new friendship with the obscenely talented rodent.

Doctor Octopus / Dr. Otto Octavius

The Bad: Having failed to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction, Octavius (Alfred Molina) goes insane and the four robotic tentacles that he used to handle the precious tritium soon begin to control him, allowing Ock to climb buildings and create general havoc in NYC.
Much to the annoyance of Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man.

The Good: Finally overpowering his rebellious limbs, Octavius realises that the new reactor he insanely built has become unstable and decides to sink it into the river.

The Lovely: Octavius has to take one for the team by drowning alongside his creation.
Which was all right because having basically murdered his wife he didn’t have much to live for anyway. Soz Doc.

Agent Zoil

The Bad: Hot on the pursuit of Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg), Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) and their bubbly new alien ally Paul, Secret Service agent Lorenzo Zoil (Jason Bateman) doesn’t even bat an eyelid when his actions almost send Joe Lo Truglio’s ignorant local police officer to the big doughnut in the sky.

The Good: Zoil reveals that he’s been Paul’s man on the inside all along and then takes a bullet in the shoulder from 'The Big Guy,' aka Sigourney Weaver, for his troubles.

The Lovely: Apparently Paul introduced Zoil to his wife Karen.
Plus he adoringly calls him Short Round.

Old Man Marley

The Bad: Two years earlier, basically a male version of the Bird Lady, Old Man Marley (Roberts Blossom), accidently petrified Kevin too. All because Buzz (Devin Ratray) wrongly informed him that their neighbour had previously murdered his entire family. An easy mistake to make.

The Good: On Christmas Eve Kevin attends church and is shocked when Marley wishes him a Merry Christmas, before then revealing that all of the rumours about him are completely false. Kevin even makes a strangely persuasive comparison between his fear of the basement and Marley’s avoidance of his son.

The Lovely: When Kevin is captured by the Wet Bandits; Marley disposes of the burglars with his trusty metal shovel. He even makes up with his family too.

Bird Lady

The Bad: Covered from head to toe by dozens of pigeons, Brenda Fricker’s Bird Lady was never going to make the greatest first impression.
She doesn’t help herself by only staring and walking menacingly towards the 12 year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) every time she sees him too.

The Good: After helping to free Kevin’s trapped foot in Central Park, the two of them strike up a wonderful friendship over classical music and hot chocolate.
The latter being the drink, not the band.

The Lovely: Having been caught by the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) again, Kevin is only saved when his female companion sets her birded army on the criminal couple.
On Christmas Day he gives her a turtle dove to confirm their everlasting friendship. What a great kid. He'll never see her again, mind.

Puss In Boots

The Bad: A feline assassin, Puss (Antonio Banderas) is hired by King Harold (John Cleese) to murder Shrek (Mike Myers) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy), wounding the duo in a forest with his deadly claws before succumbing to an untimely hairball mid-fight

The Good: After confessing Harold’s plan to the ogre he accompanies Shrek and Donkey on their journey as his honour dictates that he must protect the big green beast.

The Lovely: Puss bountiful eyes beguile several guards looking to stop Shrek’s entrance to Harold’s castle, before mercilessly defeating them with ease.

Garland Greene

The Bad: A late addition to the C-123 roster, Greene (Steve Buscemi) is a mass murder that butchered 30 victims in his pomp.
His presence even provokes the respect of Con Air’s most feared passenger, Cyrus the Virus (John Malkovich).

The Good: Not attacking a small girl who he shares a tea party with, plus his acerbic witticisms about the rest of the travelers are also a constant source of delight.
Maybe serial killers aren’t so bad after all?

The Lovely: With all of the other convicts now either dead or recaptured, we last see Garland in a Vegas casino drinking a margarita.
Fingers crossed he’s a changed man.

Amy Archer

The Bad: Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Amy Archer (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is hired by her paper to do an expos» on Norville Barnes (Tim Robbins), the new president of Hudsucker Industries.
Deploying a secret identity, she infiltrates Norv’s life and is hired as his secretary reporting her findings to her editor in due course.

The Good: Amy goes all-soft on the corn fed idiot and the two fall in love, with even his burgeoning arrogance and a slanderous story over the real inventor of his coveted hoop contraption failing to drive the pair apart.

The Lovely: After attempting suicide, Norville’s life is saved by his predecessor’s ghostly figure and he’s given a second chance, using it to run to Amy and planting a huge kiss on her.

May Day

The Bad: Roger Moore’s last escapade as 007 sees the spy on the trail of the psychotic Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) and his chief ally/lover May Day, an obscenely strong assassin who kills Bond’s detective chum at the Eiffel Tower right in front of him.

The Good: A Upon discovering Zorin’s fiendish plot to destroy Silicon Valley, Bond is attacked by May.
But after being abandoned by her partner she decides to
help out the English spy instead.

The Lovely: When a faulty handcar means that the largest bomb can only be disposed of manually, May Day sacrifices herself to ensure that it is detonated.
What a stand-up broad.

Tex Richman

The Bad: Richman (Chris Cooper) decides to buy the abandoned Muppet studio in order to destroy it and drill for oil underneath.
He even cuts the power at a telethon as the furry gods come within touching distance of raising the cash they
need to buy back their old home. Maniacal laugh!

The Good: After taking Gonzo’s bowling ball to the skull, Richman suddenly has a change of heart and decides to give the studio back to The Muppets after all.

The Lovely: Singing Mahna Mahna of course.

J.J. Sefton

The Bad: Innately cynical, and let’s face it after spending several years in a concentration camp he’s entitled to be, William Holden’s Sefton continually alienates himself from his fellow POW’s by openly trading with the German soldiers who hold them captive.

The Good: Certain he’s a German informer his fellow inmates beat Sefton. But he soon works out that the real spy is Price (Peter Graves) and unveils the traitor’s true identity to the rest of the barracks, thus convincing them of his innocence at the same time.

The Lovely: With a war hero meticulously hidden from the Germans in the camp, Sefton uses Price as a decoy and escapes with the decorated soldier in tow.

Major Calloway

The Bad: At the funeral of the supposedly dead Harry Lime (Orson Welles), Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) provokes the ire of Lime’s visiting pal Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) by having him assaulted.

The Good: Constantly asking Martins to leave Vienna, Calloway has no choice but to reveal the depravity of Lime’s crimes to the writer.
And when they figure out that his old friend is still alive they soon work together in order to capture the drug racketeer.

The Lovely: Calloway looks to drive Martins to the airport after Lime’s second funeral; only for his passenger to vacate the car as he attempts to talk to Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli).

Arthur Boo Radley

The Bad: A recluse, Boo (Robert Duvall) is the source of much rumour and hearsay in the town of Maycomb due to his reportedly bizarre and untoward behaviour in the past.

The Good: When Bob Ewell looks to punish Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) by attacking his children Scout and Gem, Boo appears and saves the pair, killing the assailant in the process.

The Lovely: Atticus and Sheriff Tate decide to cover up Boo’s murder, leaving him to return to his life of solitude but he continues to watch over Scout and Jem, as they have always treated him kindly.

Wes Mantooth

The Bad: Mantooth is Ron Burgundy’s chief competitor and the lead anchor of the Channel 9 Evening News Team.

Alongside various other news stations they partake in a violent melee that even sees sweet Brick murder someone.

The Good: As Ron climbs out of the bear-pit on a ladder having been saved by his returning pet dog Baxter, Mantooth approaches and threatens to push him to his death.But then instead reveals how much he respects him.

The Lovely: Wes’ gentle kiss onto Ron’s forehead before he cordially assists his rival onto terra firma.

“Today we spell redemption, R-O-N.”

Alain Prost

The Bad: As Ayrton Senna’s team mate at McLaren, Prost is shown to be a petulant snob whose allegiance to the head of the sport’s governing body, Jean-Marie Balestre, clouds his controversial world championship win in 1989.

The Good: Prost is shown to wince at Senna’s death whilst commentating for French television at the time of the incident, and was even a pallbearer at his funeral.

The Lovely: Senna’s sister, Vivianne set up the Instituto Ayrton Senna in 1995 to educate underprivileged Brazilian children, with Prost acting as a trustee.

Ebenezer Scrooge

The Bad: Scrooge (Michael Caine) is the archetypal grouse. He needs convincing to give his employees the day off on Christmas day and resists any attempts by his nephew to join in the festive celebrations. Has he never tasted pigs in blankets before?

The Good: Having been visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, Scrooge suddenly has an epiphany and decides to change his ways instantly becoming a man of the people.

The Lovely: After enlisting the help of a small bunny, Scrooge organises a huge Christmas feast and then even raises Bob Cratchit’s wage and pays for his home’s mortgage.

Still, we're not sure if that makes up for his his part of the When Love Is Gone duet though.