History NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist / LiveActionFilms

* The human BigBad [[Characters/MonsterVerseEcoTerrorists Alan Jonah]] in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' sets himself up as an eco-terrorist who wants to awaken the ancient [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] because he believes they can restore the Earth's biosphere where mankind has brought ecological destruction, even if it means the deaths of countless millions in the process. When the plan goes awry as a result of [[spoiler: one of the awakened Titans, King Ghidorah, being a hostile alien invader who initiates HostileTerraforming that will render most to all of Earth completely uninhabitable to humans instead of fixing the biosphere]], he isn't too upset. Johan's past as a British soldier and M16 agent continuously surrounded by the absolute worst of humanity [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy left him so jaded and misanthropic]] that he doesn't really care if mankind ends up being wiped out.

** His successors aren't any better. [[spoiler: Amanda and Hoffman]] were trained personally by Jigsaw and use the same rhetoric, but it's clear neither of them believe in it -- the former doesn't actually think anyone can change, so rigs her traps to be unwinnable, while the latter is a sadist who's more concerned with the thrill of putting people in traps (and covering his own tracks).
** The [[JackTheRipoff copycat killer]] from ''Film/Spiral2021'', who uses Jigsaw's techniques to go after {{Dirty Cop}}s. Unlike Jigsaw, [[spoiler: Schenk]] never denies being a murderer; his games may give his victims a chance to survive, but he doesn't pretend he isn't responsible for their deaths and feels that killing them was doing a service to society. However, like Jigsaw, he isn't above bending his code when it suits him, as he [[spoiler: killed and then flayed a homeless meth addict to use him as a body double]], which he doesn't seem to reflect on at all.

** ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'': [[spoiler: Former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime reveals [[FaceHeelTurn he's been working with the Decepticons the whole time]] and betrays the Autobots, claiming his actions are necessary for their race's survival. But along the way he tries to kill all the Autobots, usurps Megatron as Decepticon leader, and plans to make a SlaveRace out of humanity, making it clear he's really driven by a lust for power. The fact that his rants express [[AGodAmI a god complex]] doesn't help his arguments, either.]]

** ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'': [[spoiler: Former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime reveals [[FaceHeelTurn he's been working with the Decepticons the whole time]] and betrays the Autobots, claiming his actions are necessary for their race's survival. But along the way he tries to kill all the Autobots, usurps Megatron as Decepticon leader, and plans to make a SlaveRace out of humanity, making it clear that he's a hypocritical tyrant with a lust for power. The fact that his rants express [[AGodAmI a god complex]] doesn't help him.]]

** ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'': [[spoiler: Former Autobot leader Sentinel Prime reveals [[FaceHeelTurn he's been working with the Decepticons the whole time]] and betrays the Autobots, claiming his actions are necessary for their race's survival. But along the way he tries to kill all the Autobots, usurps Megatron as Decepticon leader, and plans to make a SlaveRace out of humanity, making it clear that he's a hypocritical tyrant with no loyalty to anyone but himself. The fact that his rants express [[AGodAmI a god complex]] doesn't help him.]]

** ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'': Cyber terrorist [[BigBad Thomas Gabriel]] insists that through his crimes, he's "doing America a favor". He's exposing the weaknesses in various systems, which will allow the country to fix them, before someone who genuinely wants to destroy the country can do so. [=McClane=], having long since caught on to the ''real'' motive of the terrorists he fights, [[ShutUpHannibal blows him off]] by pointing out he's actually doing all this to cover up/allow the ''massive'' robbery he's committing.

* ''Film/Warcraft2016'': [[SorcerousOverlord Gul'dan]] leads the orcs to invade Azeroth and conquer the new world because the orcs' homeworld is dying and his people need the resources. Gul'dan believes that [[BlackMagic fel magic]] is the key to the survival of his people after their homeworld Draenor became a wasteland, thereby justifying his use of it despite the destructive side effects. However, it was his fel magic that ''caused'' Draenor to die in the first place, and his compassion for his fellow orcs quickly dries up at the first sign of dissatisfaction and rebellion, at which point he's willing to put entire clans to the sword for the actions of a few.

* In ''Film/TheBatman2022'', [[Characters/TheBatman2022TheRiddler The Riddler]] serves as a {{foil}} to Batman, in that he's waging a war on crime and corruption using extreme violence to cultivate a legend of fear [[TerrorHero like him]] but [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity is too far gone]] to the point of being [[AxCrazy unable to understand or care about the collateral damage he's causing]], [[spoiler:before electing to destroy the city altogether out of a genuine belief that ItIsBeyondSaving. He actually believes that [[NotSoDifferentRemark he and Batman were on the same side]] and has a VillainousBreakdown when Batman rejects him]].

--->'''Holly''': After all your posturing, all your little speeches, you're nothing but a common thief.
--->'''Hans''': I am an exceptional thief, Mrs. [=McClane=].

* In ''Film/ThePurge'', The New Founding Fathers Of America legalize crime once a year allegedly to help decrease crime rates, reduce unemployment, and prevent overpopulation. In truth, they lie about the effectiveness of the purge, and their true platform is simply elitist sadism, sending squads to [[KillThePoor kill poor people]] either out of rampant classism or simply ForTheEvulz, as well as any politician who runs against them so they can keep their own power.

* In ''Film/TheBatman2022'', the Riddler serves as a {{foil}} to Batman, in that he's waging a war on crime and corruption using extreme violence to cultivate a legend of fear [[TerrorHero like him]] but [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity is too far gone]] to the point of being [[AxCrazy unable to understand or care about the collateral damage he's causing]], [[spoiler:before electing to destroy the city altogether out of a genuine belief that ItIsBeyondSaving. He actually believes that [[NotSoDifferentRemark he and Batman were on the same side]] and has a VillainousBreakdown when Batman rejects him]].

** ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': Lex Luthor uses the already existing fears of Franchise/{{Superman}} as a threat to the world (and [[{{Pride}} his ego]]), but this [[spoiler:immediately leads him down the slippery slope of killing massive numbers of innocent people, committing treason to his government, and signaling an alien entity that has the capacity to eventually conquer the Earth]]. When it comes down to it, everything he does throughout the film is because he [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence hates Superman just for existing]].
** ''Film/Aquaman2018'': Orm claims to want to defend Atlantis from ecological damage caused by the surface dwellers, and plays up this angle for public consumption. However, in private it becomes increasingly clear that while his desire to defend Atlantis is genuine, it is ''very'' far from his only reason to want a war with the surface. He is also seeking revenge for his mother's death, eliminating the threat to the throne his half-brother constitutes, and claiming the title of Ocean Master and with it command of the armed forces of all the Atlantean kingdoms so he can consolidate his grasp on power.

** ''Film/TheAvengers2012'': Loki claims that humans must be enslaved in order to bring peace to them and starts an AlienInvasion to build his empire on Earth. Keyword is "his" because that's what it is all about, getting consolation for not ruling Asgard. He alludes to himself as a boot that is going to crush the ants, so their welfare is not among his priorities. In an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U2QB9wPBAI extended scene]] he also says to the Other that he is going to rule mankind "unmercifully."

** ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': Ultron starts out with the overall goal of creating an everlasting peace on Earth, since that's the purpose he was designed for by Tony Stark. He reasons that [[SuperheroParadox the Avengers themselves are one of the primary threats to that peace]] and thus resolves to destroy them so he can carry out his ZerothLawRebellion without interference. However, by the end he deems humanity as a whole to be worthy of extermination and attempts to engineer an extinction-level event.
** Ego from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' thinks that the universe's organisms could use an upgrade and wants to "unify" them with himself. What he means by that is everyone he encountered while traveling through the stars is an utter disappointment and he thinks that by destroying and remaking life on a universal scale, he can make something that he can approve of.
** ''Film/BlackPanther2018'': [[spoiler:[[BigBad Erik Stevens/Killmonger]]]] claims that he wants to liberate black people everywhere. However, this statement is proven hollow by how he treats other black people himself, and ultimately how he harms Wakanda itself and mistreats its culture. It seems he's more interested in venting his pain and suffering unto other people. When T'Challa points out how his plan will only result in mass death and destruction, including among those who he claims he wants to help, he finally snaps and says he doesn't care as long as he can get even with those who wronged him.
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Thanos claims that he wants to exterminate half of life in the universe to save the other half from extinction. In truth (as confirmed by Joe Russo in the DVDCommentary), he is just trying to prove himself ''right'' after his species rejected the solution he proposed many years ago and force it on the universe at large. [[spoiler:Therefore, he ignores any other options, such as doubling the resources (and in fact, his efforts may have resulted in ''reducing'' resources if he halved all plants and animals too), and does not mind decimating three quarters of some species -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFuM1j1t7k0&t=5173 according]] to Creator/TheRussoBrothers, the Snap killed half of those he has already halved before, such as Asgardians or Drax's people. And that is not taking into account i.e. losses the Asgardians suffered from Hela before him. He also completely overlooks other negative impacts his plan would cause, such as the severe damage to the environment caused by halving all life, as shown by the weather disasters Okoye and Danvers report dealing with on earth and in space, as life is ''vitally important'' to the function of the planet.]] ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' [[spoiler:has him discard all pretensions of being well-intentioned upon finding out people are [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong trying everything to undo what he did]]. Instead of accepting that his idea didn't work and the universe is worse off, he starts ranting about the Avengers being "ungrateful" and that he would destroy the entire universe and rebuild a new one that would work the way he wanted it to, and would be forced to be grateful to him.]]
** The High Evolutionary in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3''. As Rocket eventually puts it, "You didn't want to make things perfect, you just hated things the way they are." It's obvious from the first moment he appears on screen that he's much more interested in insulting, torturing and eventually killing the universe for failing to meet his nonsensical, contradictory standards than he is in his ostensible mission of improving it, to the point where he's more likely to react with outrage or disinterest than joy when something goes unexpectedly well in his experiments.

** Magneto, due to his experiences in the Holocaust, believes that it is imperative to protect mutants from the possibility of [[FantasticRacism persecution by humans]], and towards that end engages in various extreme actions such as attempting to kill a mutant child whose blood can be weaponized to suppress the "X-gene", or to forcibly transform world leaders into mutants. However, as [[ShutUpHannibal Wolverine points out in the first film]], Magneto is hardly selfless enough to not kidnap Rogue to power his device, and if he truly believed in his utopia, he would have gladly sacrificed his own life. Magneto also becomes something of a [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinist]] by the third film, [[ThePawnsGoFirst throwing away "lesser" mutant lives during his attack on Alcatraz island while keeping himself and his inner circle away from the front lines]].

* The human BigBad [[Characters/MonsterVerseAlanJonah Alan Jonah]] in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' sets himself up as an eco-terrorist who wants to awaken the ancient [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] because he believes they can restore the Earth's biosphere where mankind has brought ecological destruction, even if it means the deaths of countless millions in the process. When the plan goes awry as a result of [[spoiler: one of the awakened Titans, King Ghidorah, being a hostile alien invader who initiates HostileTerraforming that will render most to all of the Earth completely uninhabitable instead of fixing the biosphere]], he isn't too upset. Johan's past as a British soldier and M16 agent continuously surrounded by the absolute worst of humanity [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy left him so jaded and misanthropic]] that he doesn't really care if mankind ends up being wiped out.