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Satisfaction Guaranteed: The 10 Best Comeuppances In Cinema

There is a very simple reason for the high level of enjoyment that comes from watching a great cinematic comeuppance – it affords us the kind of satisfaction we rarely find in life. Who hasn’t found themselves up against the sort of arch-nemesis that belongs on the silver screen? In every audience-member’s own narrative, there is an embodiment of cold, calculating evil – plotting the demise of the more sympathetic and heroic characters in that personal story.

Toy Story (1995)

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Could there be anything more terrifying, for a harmless group of children’s toys, than a child determined to torture toys in the most horrific ways possible? Mutilation, imprisonment, and even explosive dismemberment – such is the danger presented to Woody and friends by the evil and sadistic boy next door, Sid.

When Buzz and Woody fall into the hands of this intimidating bad guy, they suddenly realize what he has in store for the brave Space Ranger when he begins constructing a large rocket. Woody must enact a plan to distract Sid and save Buzz, but such an act would do nothing to prevent future atrocities against his fellow toys.

Instead, quick-thinking Woody – laying on a BBQ grill, waiting to be burned – takes the opportunity to show Sid what he can do. Woody activates his own pre-programmed voice box, enticing Sid to pick him up. It is then that Woody suddenly comes alive and plays the part of a possessed doll – terrifying him into changing his ways.