When a character of morally-dubious fiber — be they Villain Protagonist or the Big Bad and his goons — goes out and commits various crimes in a montage. These crimes can range from Bank Robbery and cat-burglary, to Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking. Usually done to show their growing infamy and success, the bad guys going from two-bit carjackers to infamous felons in a small, easily digestible format. It would also sometimes be displayed with a Spinning Paper.
Compare Atrocity Montage and Apocalyptic Montage. Contrast On Patrol Montage. May overlap with Good-Times Montage.
Examples:
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Films — Animation
- In How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, the Grinch breaks into the Who's houses and committs a spree of robberies and cleans out all of their possessions, all to a reprise of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".
- After the title character of Megamind (supposedly) destroys his life-long nemesis Metro-Man and declares himself Metro City's ruler, he and Minion go on a crime spree where they graffiti the city, steal all of the art from the Art Museum and have pillow fights with (presumably stolen) cash, all set to "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne.
Films — Live-Action
- After Angels with Dirty Faces introduces our young protagonist getting arrested, we see him age into James Cagney as he becomes involved in gambling, racketeering, bootlegging, and gang violence.
- In Batman Forever, after the Riddler and Two-Face forge an alliance, there is a montage of the two of them going around Gotham City and robbing jewelry stores.
- In The Day of the Jackal, the villainous OAS need to amass half a million US dollars as payment for the services of a professional assassin, code named Jackal. A series of French banks are shown being robbed by loyal underlings of the OAS to acquire that much capital.
- Happens twice in Dick Tracy after "Big Boy" Caprice unites the different gangs and factions. The first time, the crimes are all actually being foiled, thanks to Tracy and his unit having a secret transmitter above Caprice's meeting room, allowing them to foil the heists. After the transmitter is discovered and Tracy is framed for murder, a second montage occurs, and this one is much more successful for the criminals.
- Much like the first animated adaptation, the Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas! goes on a spree of robberies across Whoville to steal everything from their homes out of spite for the Who's and the Christmas holiday.
- The opening of Kung Fu Hustle shows black-and-white still photographs of the aftermath of the Axe Gang's attacks as they rise to power, interspersed with their dance number.
- Legendary Couple, a Hong Kong Foreign Remake of Natural Born Killers, have the protagonist (a bank clerk forced to turn to a life of crime after his wife's passing) getting his hands on an M16 and going on a massive robbery spree with his new girlfriend, attacking bank vaults and drug dens alike for their loot in a lengthy rise-to-crime scene with rock music in the background.
- Road to Perdition shows rogue hitman Michael Sullivan robbing banks in Illinois and Indiana, assisted by his eldest son. Pointedly, Sullivan is only draining the accounts of Connor Rooney, the ne'er-do-well son of crime boss John Rooney. Connor has been siphoning off funds from his father's "business," and salting them away in various banks. Sullivan aims to either compel Connor to confront him, or expose his graft to his father.
- In State of Siege, we see the Tupamaros group hijack various vehicles, and forcing their drivers out (after driving them short distances away), in preparation for their real crime - kidnapping Philip Michael Santore and another government official.
Live-Action TV
- In Better Call Saul episode "50% Off", the opening shows two incredibly dumb criminals (Sticky and Ron) receiving Saul Goodman's business card (which shows his offer for his service is 50% Off). The two knuckleheads believe that they can use this offer to get a quick deal on committing any crime they like. They then proceed to go on a long spree. The many various crimes that they commit are collecting drugs, snorting drugs, reckless driving, drunk driving, stealing, trespassing, public urination, shoplifting, and vandalizing.
- Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger: The evil duplicates of Zox and Kaito created by Copy Wald are shown going on a montage of crimes.
Web Videos
- Brandon Rogers:
- In "NORMAL BRITISH SERIES - Ep 1: Being Normal", after Adrian and Everly become an Outlaw Couple, we see a montage of them going cross-country, committing robberies, killing people who they "think" deserve it and swapping identities to avoid the law.
- In "NORMAL BRITISH SERIES - Ep 3: A Place for Good", Queen Elizabeth II has the Mingeworthys do various things that she is too "chicken-shit" to do herself. The list includes robbing the nearest bank, kidnap a baby, putting that baby in danger (which they interpret as giving it back to its mother), stiffing a medical bill, getting an Uber-driver fired, landing a career in finance, steal a work of art, derail a train, pour acid on children, pollute the water supply, fart, sit on the elderly, and kidnap and Fed-Exing Bobby Worst so that the Queen could hold him hostage. While this is going on, there is a Running Gag where the orphans sent to pretend to be their children keep getting killed (usually by them) and replaced.
Western Animation
- The Batman: Joker and Harley Quinn's first date is this: they're robbing a bank and random people, poisoning squirrels and making literally explosive pranks.
- Central Park: In "That Was All Me", the former jewel thief known as The Shadow aka Bitsy Brandenham sings about how she committed her crimes, with flashbacks to her crime spree across major 5-star hotels in New York City.
