Cinema's most compelling characters aren't always the heroes β sometimes it's the morally compromised, deeply flawed figures who steal the entire film. From cold-blooded criminals to ruthless mercenaries, these are the characters who made you question your own moral compass.
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Tony Montana
Al Pacino's manic, cocaine-fuelled rise and fall in Brian De Palma's Miami epic is one of cinema's great tragic portraits. You know he's monstrous, yet somehow you can't tear yourself away from his relentless, doomed ambition.

Amy Dunne
Rosamund Pike's ice-cold, meticulously calculating Amy is arguably the most unsettling antihero of modern cinema. She's manipulative, dangerous, and completely terrifying β and yet David Fincher makes sure you understand exactly why she snapped.

Leon
A hitman who lives off milk and houseplants shouldn't be this endearing, yet Jean Reno's lonely, gentle assassin is one of cinema's most quietly heartbreaking figures. Luc Besson crafted a character whose tenderness makes you forget β almost β what he does for a living.

Walter White
Bryan Cranston's transformation from defeated chemistry teacher to drug empire kingpin remains one of the most forensically detailed character studies ever committed to screen. The genius of Walt is that you root for him long after any reasonable person should have given up on him.

Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds' foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-demolishing mercenary gave superhero films a much-needed kick up the backside β and proved British and American audiences alike were desperate for something genuinely irreverent. He's selfish, chaotic, and utterly impossible not to love.
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Rank the greatest movie monologues of all time β which one gave you actual goosebumps?
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