Smug Snake/Film: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* Eve Harrington from ''[[All About Eve]]'' is a prime example of the Smug Snake. A [[Manipulative Bitch|master manipulator]] who fancies herself a [[Magnificent Bitch]], she [[Villainous Breakdown|crumbles]] when faced with a real [[Magnificent Bastard]] in the form of Addison DeWitt. "[[Badass Boast|Take a good look at me Eve, it's about time you did. I am Addison DeWitt and I am nobody's fool, least of all yours]]."

* The criminal Waingro in ''[[Heat]]'' displays a smug expression whenever committing an low act like killing a guard during a heist for staring at him and enjoying a pie afterwards, murdering a underage prostitute or betraying his former colleagues to a common enemy.

** The first ''Die Hard'' is actually a good case study in the difference between the Smug Snake and the [[Magnificent Bastard]]. [[Asshole Victim|Ellis]] is a Smug Snake, [[Big Bad|Hans Gruber]] is a [[Magnificent Bastard]].

* ''Fracture'' also shows a good contrast between a Smug Snake and a [[Magnificent Bastard]], (or, {{spoiler|considering how he [[Villain Ball|screws everything up]] [[What an Idiot!|at the end]],}} a much more high-functioning Smug Snake). The former is a smarmy prosecutor who believes he has gotten a completely open-and-shut case, and consequently has not bothered to do his job properly. The latter is a murderer who believes he has made himself untouchable despite the case against him seeming to be bulletproof, and is not worried about [[Smug Smiler|showing how confident he is]]. The reason you are almost rooting for the murderer is because his arrogance comes from having planned everything very carefully, rather than smugly assuming he's going to win. The fact that he's played by [[Anthony Hopkins]] certainly helps.

* Although at first he appears to be on the hero's side, {{spoiler|the gameshow host}} in ''[[Slumdog Millionaire]]'' is as smug as can be, and seems absolutely insulted by Jamal's success throughout the movie.

* Bison from ''[[Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li (Film)|Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li]]''. Far from the frighteningly unstable [[Omnicidal Maniac]] of the [[Street Fighter|gameverse proper]] (or the [[Laughably Evil]] [[Magnificent Bastard]] [[Street Fighter (Film)|as played by the late Raul Julia]]), he comes across in the movie as "Kung-Fu [[Heroes (TV)|Arthur Petrelli]] (as played by a Malcolm McDowell impersonator)."

** [[Card-Carrying Villain|General Grievous]]. In the Interquel mini-series, Grievous was a bonafide badass, slaughtering several Jedi at once and almost taking several prominent masters' heads for himself, including Ki-Adi-Mundi. The guy even fought MACE WINDU to a standstill. Cue [[Revenge of the Sith]] and a helping of [[Badass Decay]] courtesy of [[George Lucas]], and we get a Smug Snake whom "is actually doing the doing the [[Buffy-Speak|twirly-finger thing]]", to quote Rifftrax, and is handed his ass after a brief saber fight by Obi-Wan later...

** [[A New Hope|Admiral Motti]]'s ''"this station is now the ultimate power in the universe"'' remark comes across as fairly arrogant in any context, {{spoiler|but especially in light of what happened near the end of the movie}}.

* ''[[Inglorious Basterds]]'' has Major Hellstrom and, more unconventially, a rare 'good guy' example in Bridget Von Hammersmark who is utterly disdainful of her allies but doesn't seem much (if at all) smarter.

* Eli Sunday from [[There Will Be Blood]] is a charismatic religious fanatic who presides over a cult in the small American town where he resides. While his ambition is to be commended, he is nevertheless a hyptocritical bully whose faith in God crumbles when faced with adversity. When confronted with a bigger bully than himself in the form of [[The Sociopath|raging Daniel Plainview]], he is reduced to crying and screaming while begging for his life.