"I forgive ya, but my tommy gun don't!"
Alright, my second candidate from another classic childhood favorite. And a popular Christmas favorite for nearly everyone lol.
What's the Work?[]
Home Alone is a Christmas comedy film franchise created by John Hughes and each movie is centered around a kid (usually Kevin McCastiler) fending of his home from a couple of burglars (usually Harry Lime - no not that one - and Marv Muchins) using creative traps……
And our candidate isn't from that, but the in-universe gangster movie series Angels With Filthy Souls, none other then the protagonist himself!
Who is Johnny?[]
Johnny is the witty gangster protagonist in the films.
The first film has him visited by fellow mobster Snakes, who has delivered some unspecified “stuff” ordered by their boss, Acey. Snakes states that Johnny has to pay 10% of the cut then asks for Acey's location. Johnny retorts that Acey is “taking a bath upstairs” and is in charge of the organization. Johnny then demeans that Snakes leaves his office under the threat of death by tommy gun within the count of ten…. Only to cut short after two and shoot him repeatedly. As Snakes dies, Johnny says one of his iconic lines “Keep the change you filthy animal”.
The sequel - “Angels With Even Filthier Souls” - has Johnny's girlfriend visit him. Johnny reveals that she was having an affair with not only his own brother - but with nearly everybody else. Johnny uses this to intimate her into saying she loves him, then threatens to kill if she fails to leave on the count of ten. Johnny once again plays dirty and skips from two to ten, then shoots her repeatedly with his tommy gun. Johnny then says his most famous line, “Merry Christmas you filthy animal! And a Happy New Year!”.
Is He Magnificent?[]
Likeability: For his short screen time, I’ll say he is. He is a quick-witted film noir gangster parody who intimidates those into getting what he wants and drops some cool one-liners like the Filthy Animal quotes.
Intelligence: So this is one issue I could see. Johnny isn't the most impressive in terms of intelligence, but I still feel he makes it. He murders Acey and takes over his organization, manages to avoid paying 10% of his money to Snakes by killing him, has discovered that his fiancee has been cheating on him with several men and uses this to get her to say she loves him. Not much but for a minor character with not that much screentime, I feel it's a borderline case.
Is He a Baddie? Too Much?[]
Johnny is a gangster who killed his boss and took over his organization, and kills Snakes and his girlfriend while tricking them into thinking they have more time then life, then shooting their corpses more just for kicks, showing a sadistic side.
But even then, I don't think he goes too far. His rap sheet is pretty generic for a gangster with only having three victims and all of them being a##hole victims to some degree, like Acey being a mob boss, Snakes being a fellow mobster, and his girlfriend being a serial cheater, so their deaths aren't too sympathetic. Plus the thing is meant to be a parody of film noir gangster films so their deaths are taken in a black comedy manner, especially since the are later used to ward off pizza delivery men and hotel staff. As a result, you are likely to find the whole thing humorous rather than disturbing in the end.
Verdict?[]
“Keep the upvote you filthy animal”.