Sunday, February 28, 2016

Favorite Movie Villains, Pt 1



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Here it is.  My list of favorite movie villains.  I already started a list of over 100 characters, but I found it frustrating because I kept thinking of more people after I thought I was done with it.  Therefore, Im starting out with a countdown of the Top 50, and maybe I'll work in the other direction when I'm done. 




HONORABLE MENTION: FATHER BRENDAN FLYNN
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt (2008)
I included this guy as an honorable mention because of the movie’s ambiguity.  It’s very clear there’s no proof whether or not he molested that child.  If he did, he’s undoubtedly a villain.  If he didn’t, he’s a saint who genuinely cares for the children at his school, and sister Aloysius is arguably a different kind of villain.  Good or bad, he’s a charismatic priest who knows how to get people on his side.    



50. MONA DEMARKOV
Lena Olin, Romeo is Bleeding (1993)
The protagonist, Jack, bites off more he can chew when he runs afoul of this beautiful, but psychotic Russian assassin.  Nearly unstoppable and crazy as hell, she hunts him down in a way that makes it look like she could give Anton Chigurh a run for his money.  She even cuts off her own arm and places it with the charred corpse of the protagonist’s mistress to throw off the police.  For some perspective on this, she’s a complete nightmare for a character played by Gary Oldman.  Unfortunately, her mystique is diminished when she’s killed abruptly at the end of the movie.  The experience still leaves Jack a broken, lonely, and haunted man.   


49. LORD HUMUNGUS
Kjell Nilsson, The Road Warrior (1981)
Big, scary, hilariously named warlord who brutally pillages and murders in the name of being the only power in a desert wasteland.  His frightening presence is enhanced by throbbing veins on the back of his scarred head.  Despite this savage appearance, he’s calm and calculating.  He attempts to talk his potential victims into submission, and sometimes needs to restrain the more irrational Wez.  Some clues suggest he’s lost some loved ones of his own in the apocalypse.    


 
48. LADY EBOSHI
Yūko Tanaka/Minnie Driver, Princess Mononoke, 1997
A capable leader and fighter, Lady Eboshi has no mercy for the spirit world of the forest.  However, she is kind-hearted and charitable toward the humans under her care, as evidenced by her compassion for the lepers.  So dedicated she is in her concern for humans, she’s willing to sacrifice other life for them.  In the real world she would be a good guy. 


  47. BIFF TANNEN
Thomas F. Wilson, Back to the Future Part II (1989)
As a young man in the first movie, Biff was not much more than a buffoonish and sometimes dangerous bully.  When bested by George McFly in the improved timeline, he becomes an outwardly meek man.  However, the minute an older and far more intelligent Biff sees an opportunity to change the past for his own gain, he actually manages to be selfish to the point of self-sacrifice.  He’s willing to erase the majority of his own existence (and those of countless innocent people) so that his younger self would have power.  With this power he destroys Hillsdale and the lives of everyone around him.  I also think it’s of some current relevance that this character was inspired by Donald Trump.  Wilson gives a comical and versatile performance in these movies, and it’s amusing that the old Biff’s can has a fist on it to mimic the way he’d knock on people’s heads when he was ridiculing them in high school.


 46. THE JOKER
Jack Nicholson, Batman (1989)
A creative, witty, and fun version of the classic character.  I like how his smile is permanently plastered on his face.  He dresses with style and he’s always a hoot to watch.  He’s about as evil as any incarnation of the psychotic clown prince of crime, killing for no other reason his own amusement.  I still have some complaints about the character.  By giving him a past as mob enforcer Jack Napier and making him the killer of Bruce’s parents, it robbed the character of his mystery.  Although I love Jack Nicholson’s performance, he’s still Jack Nicholson in clown makeup.  James Woods was considered, and he would have been perfect in the role.  It looks like we’re never going to see this, either. 


 45. SIR HISS
Terry-Thomas, Robin Hood (1973)
Hiss seems to be the only villain in the movie with a clue.  He constantly cautions Prince John against his own bottomless stupidity and he does a decent job of figuring out the situation at the archery tournament despite being kept in the dark.  Despite this, he doesn’t seem genuinely malicious.  He’s horrified when he finds out that John intends to execute Friar Tuck, and he’s overjoyed when Robin survives the third act.  He’s still complicit in evil out of cowardice and sycophancy.  I also always loved snake characters.
 44. NORMAN STANSFIELD
Gary Oldman, Léon: The Professional (1994)
A corrupt, murderous, impulsive, irritable, crack-addicted detective, Stansfield is Gary Oldman at his best.  His best moment is when he asks Mathilda (Natalie Portman) if she enjoys life, and when she tells him yes:
“That’s good, because I take no pleasure in taking life if it’s from someone who doesn’t care about it.”


 43. XENIA ONATOPP
Famke Janssen, GoldenEye (1995)
My favorite Bond henchman.  A sexy femme fatale who has a unique way of killing people: asphyxiating them by constricting their abdomens with her legs (preferable during sex).  Her shooting spree in the Severanaya bunker reveals a particularly disturbing trait: she is sexually aroused by murdering people.  Even Ourumov (Gottfried John) is creeped out.


 42. THE NAZGÛL
v. Andy Serkis, Fran Walsh, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Formerly nine human kings, Sauron corrupted them with rings of power and turned them into his slaves.  The Ringwraiths may have a generic Grim Reaper look, but they are among the most frightening manifestations of that trope.  Great directing and design has made them nightmarish almost every time they’re on screen.  Fran Walsh’s (Peter Jackson’s wife) modified screech also helps.  The leader of The Nine also dons some pretty neat armor in the third movie.


 41. THE THING
The Thing (1982)
One of the most horrifying creatures put on screen, the Thing is an alien that kills whatever organism it assimilates.  The people trapped with it in an Antarctic research station have to stop it from escaping and assimilating the whole planet.  Despite its appearance, it’s at least as intelligent as a human.  As well as apparently being able to build a spaceship out of spare parts, it can perfectly imitate anyone and it acts rationally, only revealing itself when necessary (well not in the 2011 prequel, but that movie sucks).  This inspires paranoia in the characters and helps create tension and mystery.  
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