 ✓
| ||
|
This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
- NOTE: This article is about Waingro from the 1989 film L.A. Takedown. The 1995 movie can be found here: Waingro (Heat).
  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Whoa! Cool-o! Coz I am surrendering... You got that? I'm giving myself up, right? Are we clear on that? Coz that's the way I want to hear it read in court... he was coming after me! Justifiable self-defence! I'm in the right! I got it wired, man... So let's not waste any time! Let's get it right in the report. So I'm gonna have my own lawyer choice... None of this "public defender" stuff, alright? | „ |
| ~ Waingro shortly after killing Patrick McLaren for trying to execute him, moments before he is then killed by Vince Hanna. |
Waingro is the main antagonist of the 1989 television heist film L.A. Takedown.
He was a vicious murderer and habitual offender who formerly associated with a crew of professional criminals led by Patrick McLaren, but later turned against them when they tried to kill him for his killing spree. Though he did ultimately succeed in killing McLaren towards the end of the movie, Waingro ended up getting killed by McLaren's adversary Vince Hanna at the climax.
He was portrayed by Xander Berkeley, who also played Agent Gibbs in Air Force One, Corey Mills in Superman: The Animated Series, Nathan Van Cleef in Shanghai Noon, General Brak in Justice League, Stuart St. John in Taken, Red John in The Mentalist, General Immortus and Warp in Teen Titans, Mysterio in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Vic Gigante in Kick-Ass, Morgg in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Gregory in The Walking Dead and Gilad Pellaeon in The Mandalorian.
Biography[]
In the film, Waingro started out as a new crew member of a group of robbers led by professional criminal Patrick McLaren. Together they pull off an initially successful robbery on an armored car, but then Waingro ends up executing the guards against McLaren's consent. This forced McLaren and his crew to eliminate the remaining guards in order to avoid allowing witnesses to implicate them behind the robbery. Despite their success of the robbery, McLaren and his crew are angry with Waingro for the needless killing and decide to murder him later on that night. They confront him in a coffee shop when McLaren gives his crew an update on the police's response to the heist and how it would impact their next score. Afterwards, they brutally apprehend Waingro and plan to take him hostage for execution. However, the abrupt presence of an oncoming police car forces them to hide and Waingro uses the opportunity to flee.
Waingro is also a serial killer who preys on young women. Waingro's ongoing killings are soon investigated by police detective Vince Hanna, who is conveniently in charge of McLaren's latest heist incident. At some point, Waingro comes across one of McLaren's crew members and brutally questions him about McLaren's next bank robbery. Waingro then seeks to get even on McLaren by secretly leaking out McLaren's heist to Hanna's unit, which consequently leads to a huge shootout between the two sides as a result of Waingro's interference. McLaren survives the heist and plans to hunt down Waingro after learning of his role behind the botched set-up.
Waingro soon goes into hiding at a hotel, while McLaren plans to escape the country with his girlfriend Eady to start anew. Eventually, though, McLaren learns about Waingro's location and sets out to confront him. Hanna soon follows him after his unit track down McLaren, correctly assuming that he will come after Waingro to confront him for his actions. When McLaren arrives at the hotel, he comes across Waingro's room and attempts to get himself inside by claiming that there is a gas leak in his room. Waingro is skeptical, however, and brandishes a shotgun to kill the intruder after claiming that he will be out in a moment. Waingro then attempts to shoot McLaren to no avail. McLaren is about to return fire when Hanna and his unit intervene, ordering McLaren to drop his gun. Waingro uses the opportunity to shoot McLaren, killing him as the latter dies in Hanna's arms.
Shortly after witnessing McLaren's death, Hanna bursts into Waingro's bedroom with his unit. Waingro drops his gun and willfully surrenders before claiming that he will proudly follow the events that come in court, assuming that things will look easier for him following his claims that McLaren was the one coming to kill him. Hanna, however, dismisses Waingro's boastful hopes by pointing out about his killings - which his associate Huge Benny had grassed to the police earlier on - and tells him that he will spend the rest of his life in prison, or will spend the rest of his life "bunking his head in a toilet". As Hanna's unit prepares to arrest Waingro, though, he refuses to accept this and tries to resist arrest by brandishing a gun. But this prompts Hanna to brutally kick Waingro out of his bedroom window, and Waingro consequently falls to his death.
Following Waingro's death and with McLaren's murder avenged, Hanna reunites with his estranged wife Lillian before the pair leave the scene to go back home.
Trivia[]
- The movie L.A. Takedown served as the inspiration of the similar subsequent 1995 heist-crime film called "Heat".
- Waingro also appeared in Heat and was portrayed by Kevin Gage.
- Ironically enough, both L.A. Takedown and Heat were directed by Michael Mann.
- Xander Berkeley, the actor who played Waingro in L.A. Takedown, would later appear in "Heat" as Randall (a somewhat lover friend of Lieutenant Vincent Hanna's estranged wife Justine Hanna).
- Although both versions of Waingro are killed at the climax of their own respective two movies, they each came out in different circumstances;
- In 1989's L.A. Takedown, Waingro succeeded in killing protagonist villain Patrick McLaren before getting killed himself by co-protagonist Lieutenant Hanna.
- In 1995's Heat, Waingro did not succeed in eliminating protagonist villain Neil McCauley and was killed by him - though McCauley would then be killed by Lieutenant Hanna in their final climatic showdown.