Content Warning: This article may contain references to murder and violence
Death is always tragic...until it isn't. More often shown through parody media, hilarious deaths are graphic and usually happen without warning. An extreme example of this is some of the many deaths in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Knights flying off the Bridge of Death, being attacked by the Rabbit of Caerbannog and the multiple decapitations of the Black Knight make for some laughable bloodshed.
What makes movie deaths even more funny is if an actor makes an unexpected cameo and then dies just as quickly. Usually just used for shock value or to break the tension of a very serious moment, there's rarely a time when anyone expects to see a random celebrity get killed in a gruesome manner. Weather the death is accidental or on purpose, it's hard to feel bad for the victims when laughing at their demise.
Bruce Willis in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
What makes this death funny isn't the characters themselves, but the history behind the people playing them. In Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Willis stars as a Justice Department official, who ends up being ambushed and shot by an assassin who turns out to be former Angel Madison Lee (Demi Moore).
Willis and Moore were married in 1987 and then divorced in 2000. Their divorce was amicable and they've remained good friends ever since (so it's kind of ironic that her character kills his so coldly). Regardless, knowing the history between these two is enough for Willis's death to earn a chuckle.
Jackie Chan in Enter the Dragon
In something of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo, Chan plays an evil minion who attacks Bruce Lee's character from behind. Lee is able to swiftly shove Chan off and hold him in front by twisting his arm behind his back and grabbing a fistful of hair. He then snaps Chan's neck slightly off-screen and unceremoniously dumps his body, already focusing on another fight.
What makes this funny is not the death itself but the facial expressions Lee makes while committing the murder. The camera zoom on the chaotic look in his eyes and the over-the-top expression brings some hilarity to Chan's sudden demise.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in Reno 911!: Miami
Appearing as tough-as-nails SWAT officer Rick Smith, Johnson arrives at the scene of a crime and proceeds to give bystanders a speech about the difference between bravery and courage. He gets so into his speech that he doesn't notice when he takes a grenade from his belt and pulls the pin. The bystanders point out the live grenade in his hand and then he unceremoniously drops it.
In trying to pick it up, Johnson keeps kicking it away, soon following it into a hazmat tent. An explosion and a splatter of blood later, his character is no more. After all that serious/safety build-up and he dies after being too casual with a throwable weapon. It's so dumb, it's funny.
Ryan Reynolds In A Million Ways To Die in the West
Known for being a naturally funny guy both on and off-screen, Reynolds has been making people laugh for many years now. His appearance in this satirical film was as unexpected as his death was. Bursting into a saloon, Liam Neeson's character, Clinch, is on the hunt for a man who dared to have a relationship with his wife Anna (Charlize Theron).
Neeson eventually points his gun at a random man who turns out to be Reynolds. He suddenly gets shot in the chest after failing to provide the answer Neeson is looking for. The suddenness of the shot adds humor to the death because it was a blink-and-they're-gone scenario.
Justin Bieber in Zoolander 2
A mysterious assassin is killing off "the world's most beautiful people" in this equally zany sequel to Zoolander, and Bieber appears to be on their hit list. After being chased down an alley by the assassin, Bieber finds himself cornered and staring down the barrel of a gun. In what can only be described as extreme overkill, the assassin riddles his body with bullets for what feels like a full minute, if not longer. Not only is the murder overkill, Bieber's face during this sequence seemingly and hilariously switches between pained and bored.
Eventually, Bieber collapses to the ground and the assassin disappears into the night. Realistically he should be very dead by now, but somehow he has just enough strength to take out his phone, snap a selfie, nitpick over what filter to use, and then share it on social media before finally ing. The whole thing was just ridiculous from start to finish.
Anna Faris in Keanu
An unexpected but hilarious cameo all the same, Anna Faris plays an exaggerated version of herself who meets up with Rell (Jordan Peele) and gang member Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish). As the night goes on, Faris's behavior becomes more and more erratic, and she dares Haddish to shoot Peele (even offering her $10,000).
However, Haddish clocks her on the nose with her gun, causing her to fall and break her glass table. Faris then attempts to attack Haddish with a samurai sword, only to be tackled by Peele and then shot several times by Haddish. It would have been fairly scary if Faris hadn't called Haddish's character a "peasant," while charging at her with the blade.
Sam Raimi in Miller's Crossing
Though he's most famous for directing the original Spider-Man trilogy with Tobey Maguire, Raimi has actually appeared in front of the camera many times. In this particular film, he plays a detective-looking character.
After a bomb goes off in a store, someone starts shooting at them with a machine gun, causing a panic. Raimi, only armed with two pistols, attempts to shoot back but is quickly overpowered. As he's being pumped full of lead, his body is spasming all over the place while is pistols are firing wildly. He looks like suddenly acquired ragdoll physics for a few seconds. It's a hilarious moment in an otherwise violent exchange.
Elijah Wood in Spy Kids 3: Game Over
During the third Spy Kids movie, the kids and others are making their way through a video game and eventually arrive at the boss level. Up until that point, Juni Cortez, played by a young Daryl Sabara, has been set up to be 'The Guy,' a legendary player who can supposedly beat level five. Then out of nowhere Wood shows up claiming to be the real 'Guy' and confidently walks into the unbeatable level.
He's immediately struck by lightning from a trap and loses all his 99 lives. He has time to mutter a surprised 'oops' before exploding out of the game. As far as sudden deaths go, this one's pretty tame, but no less funny. Wood made a big deal about being 'The Guy' and then just disintegrates in seconds.
Bill Murray in Zombieland
In order to survive the zombie apocalypse, Murray decided to look and act like one of the undead. He'd been living like that for a while when Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) arrive at his mansion. For whatever reason, Harrelson and Stone thought it would be funny to prank Eisenberg and Breslin by having Murray pretend to be a zombie and stagger up behind them. Naturally, Eisenberg freaks out and shoots Murray in the chest.
Murray, to his credit, doesn't go out without a few comedic quips. When asked if he had any regrets, he replied with "Garfield, maybe," with everybody knowing that he hated voicing the live-action version of the lasagna-loving fat cat. Adding to the comedy of the situation, the others unceremoniously dumped Murray's body into a large garbage can. If any other actor had been in this role, there's a chance it wouldn't have been as funny.
Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2
This is, by far, the most random and absurd cameo ever to be seen in any one movie. Deadpool and his X-Force team are jumping out of a plane on a mission and some don't even make it to the ground because they end up dying in some grisly way. In the case of Pitt, his character, called the Vanisher, was invisible until flying into some powerlines and frying to death.
A two second cameo and all Pitt asked for as payment was a cup of coffee (via Hollywood Reporter). The whole situation was hilarious from start to finish, not to mention completely unexpected. Sometimes the funniest deaths are often the most surprising, and since people are still talking about it, it certainly has had quite the impact.
