In films where the story is about good vs evil, evil is almost always overcome through brawn and courage. Marvel superheroes, adventurous archeologists, and noble elves alike dispel doom and gloom with the strength of their superpowers, whips, and swords.
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And yet for the viewer, the most satisfying victories are often achieved through the application of intelligence, imagination, and surprise; after all, these are the only weapons that come standard in most mortals. These ten films show how different protagonists overcome their human, supernatural, and sometimes microscopic enemies using their intelligence and creativity (and very occasionally a bit of muscle).
‘Home Alone’ (1990)
This story about Kevin McCallister, a boy accidentally left behind when his family jets over to Paris for Christmas, proved to be a star vehicle for the film’s star, 10-year-oldMacaulay Culkin. His joy at having the whole house to himself to do whatever he wants turns into trepidation when he learns that two bandits - played byJoe PesciandDaniel Stern- have targeted his home.
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The film’s climax is a hilarious series of booby-traps set by Kevin for the bandits, booby-traps they blithely trip, trigger and fall into with consistent - if painful - aplomb. Proving that the average 10-year-old can easily outsmart two greedy but not very bright bandits was more fun than anyone thought possible and ensuredHome Alonebecame one ofthe great Christmas classics.
‘Lucy’ (2014)
IfLuc Besson’sfilms sometimes struggle to make narrative sense, they more than makeup for it with their sheer visual bravado and a cascade of outrageous ideas.Lucyexemplifies this in spades, with a story based on the silliest of pseudoscientific theories - that humans use only 10% of their brains - mixed in with wonderfully choreographed violence inflicted on various enemies byScarlett Johannson’sLucy Miller.
Accidentally infused with a synthetic drug being smuggled all over the world by a Korean gang in the bodies of various mules, Lucy’s mind increases in capacity and ability, making her a superhero. The stave off physical disintegration and ensure her mental abilities, including telepathy and telekinesis, continue to grow, she tracks down the other packets of the drug for herself. Eventually reaching 100% of her brain’s potential, Lucy defeats the gangsters and transitions into a new, posthuman, existence.
‘The Andromeda Strain’ (1971)
Michael Crichton’s first novelThe Andromeda Strainamply demonstrated two characteristics that made his work so readable, and the films made from them so watchable. First, his use of science to give his stories a plausible backdrop, and second his ability to tell a rousing good yarn. Just check out the titles of some of his most popular novels (all turned into films):Congo,Sphereand most famouslyJurassic Park.The Andromeda Strain, set almost entirely in an underground research facility, uses science not just as a backdrop but to ramp up the tension as doctors and biologists attempt to discover if a returned satellite was carrying a lethal alien infection that killed everyone in a small New Mexico town.
The scientists do findan alien organism responsible for the deaths, but even as they learn how to deal with it the organism mutates into a nonlethal strain that eats plastic and immediately starts destroying the seals keeping the research facility separate from the world outside. It would give away too much of the plot to describe what happens next, but once again brain wins over brawn (or in this case a quickly evolving alien from outer space).
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
Considered by many to be one of the best films ever made, 1991’sThe Silence of the Lambswon five Oscars, including Best Picture. It is a taught, brilliantly acted film that has FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) team up with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins),an imprisoned serial-killing psychiatrist, to hunt down another serial killer, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). What might otherwise have been a clever crime story is turned into a masterpiece of horror through our knowledge that Hannibal Lecter is not only a serial-killer but also a cannibal, and that Buffalo Bill skins his female victims.
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The film shines brightest when it shows Lecter, although a prisoner, using his intellect to manipulate everyone around him, including Clarice Starling, no mental slouch herself. In the end, with Lecter helpfully nudging her in the right direction, Starling figures out how to track down Buffalo Bill, and Lecter wins his freedom.
‘Spotlight’ (2015)
This film, where a group of investigative journalists working forThe Boston Globeuncover years of child sex abuse by Catholic priests, is the perfect example of success being 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration.Spotlightalso shows why many heads are better than one, as the ‘Spotlight’ team works together to gather accounts, dates and names to break open not just the story about the abuse, but the systemic coverup that protected the offenders, often allowing them to re-offend.
What Spotlight demonstrates best of all is how intelligence, diligently and honorably applied, can overcome tremendous odds to bring justice and dignity to victims who have little power or influence on their own. In that sense, Spotlight is more than heart-warming, it’s life-affirming.
‘Ghostbusters’ (1984)
InGhostbustersour heroes - three of them scientists - use brains and guts (and nuclear-powered proton guns) to save New York City from certain destruction. The knights in shining armor … well. grey jumpsuits …. also manage to save the beautiful damsel in distress … well, the demon dog Zuul.
As tempting as it is to see Ghostbusters as a film about superscience beating the supernatural, the science is as dodgy as a three-wheeled shopping trolley. But our heroes do rely on their brains to defeat a terrible, andterribly funny, supernatural evil.
‘The Martian’ (2015)
Astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is stranded on Mars after his colleagues, thinking he has died, escape in their ship to avoid a dust storm. Watney has to figure out how to survive alone until the next Mars mission arrives in four years time.
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The Martianis not just about how scientist Watney uses his know-how to grow food to keep himself alive, but also how he modifies and maintains all the other equipment to give himself shelter and air, and reestablishes communications with Earth. Brains also count when scientists and engineers back on Earth figure out how to rescue Watney well before the next Mars mission.
‘Megamind’ (2010)
What use is a supervillain without a superhero? After defeating his lifelong foe Metro Man,Megamindfinds his life aimless and without purpose. The answer? Create a new superhero. All goes according to plan until the new superhero turns out to be a supervillain instead, leaving Megamind no choice but to become a superhero himself.
Megamind relies almost entirely on his brains to defeat his foes - whichever side of the law they inhabit - and still manages to win the day, the love of the beautiful reporter and the respect of his city’s citizens, proving once and for all that brain beats brawn.
‘Chicken Run’ (2000)
Mrs and Mr Tweedy runan egg farm like a prison, and eat any chickens who can no longer lay. One day, Mrs Tweedy get the bright idea of converting the farm into a factory making chicken pies. InChicken Run, the chickens' days seem to be numbered.
But Ginger, a particularly plucky chicken, combines her brains with the bravado of an unexpected intruder, American rooster Rocky Rhodes. Initially wanting Rocky to teach her and the other chickens how to fly, Ginger instead ends up getting the chickens to build an airplane. Can a chicken brain defeat the evil Mrs and Mr Tweedy? You bet.
‘Iron Man’ (2008)
It may seem strange having a superhero in a list of films about brain beating brawn, but ironicallyIron Manis the perfect proof that brains will always win the day.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) uses his intelligence and engineering skills to create Iron Man’s suit, making himself not only the first of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s heroes, but arguably its sanest, bravest and most noble. One of the big questions for fans of the MCU is how the Avengers will operate without its two mainstays: Iron Man and the original Captain America. Fans will have to wait until 2025 andthe planned release of Avengers: The Kang Dynastyto find out.
