Possible spoilers for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, GoldenEye, and Terminator 2.
40. PETER PETTIGREW
Timothy Spall, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
He’s often referred to as a stupid character, but Wormtail
is underestimated. He managed to
outsmart the whole Wizarding World by faking his death while framing Sirius
Black for it (as well as the deaths of some innocent bystanders that he also
murdered). He then spends fourteen years
living as a pet rat to hide from reprisal.
All this started because he betrayed his friends when threatened by
Voldemort. Cunning yet pathetic,
Pettigrew shows how far a coward is willing to go to preserve his own
life. In a rare flash of intelligence,
Voldemort recognizes that Pettigrew only helps him out of cowardice and uses a
magical failsafe in case of betrayal.
Still, it would have been nice if the Dark Lord had put some effort into
inspiring actual loyalty from him, as opposed to encouraging his less competent
followers to mistreat him.
39. ALEC TREVELYAN
Sean Bean, GoldenEye
(1995)
A former friend and comrade of Bond, Trevelyan (named
after an infamous British censor) almost died as a result of Bond’s focus on
accomplishing a mission. Trevelyan made
a good nemesis against Bond because of this vendetta as well as his having a
similar skill set to 007’s. Being played
by the great Sean Bean helps, too.
However, his motivation could have made more sense. As a spy he should have been more sensitive
to his duty to sacrifice his life for queen and country. He has no right to hold a grudge against Bond
considering he told Bond to “finish the job.”
Still, he has more complexity than most Bond villains and was the best
antagonist in the franchise for a while.
38. STUNTMAN MIKE
Kurt Russell, Death
Proof (2007)
Stuntman Mike is charming and witty, which is disarming
to his potential victims. In reality, he’s
a pervert who preys on women in a particularly creative way. After stalking them for a period, he kills them
by crashing into their vehicles with a death-proofed muscle car for his sexual
pleasure. This results in some memorably
graphic deaths that don’t shy away from how gory car crashes can be. In a refreshing twist on the slasher genre,
Mike turns out not to be an invincible force.
When a group of women turn the tables on him, he immediately turns into
a whimpering pansy, and predator becomes prey.
It’s nice to see a movie acknowledge that these types of killers, like
most predators, are nothing more than cowards.
37. GENERAL GRIEVOUS
Matthew Wood, Star
Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
He’s not quite as cool as he is in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars, but I feel Grievous is an
underrated villain. A military genius
with one of the best designs ever and also a pretty good leitmotif. I’m not a prequel fanboy, but I seem to
disagree with most people on this character.
One of the main complaints is that he’s a coward (because heaven forbid
a villain have a character flaw),
which is only disappointing if you’ve seen Clone
Wars before this movie (Clone Wars
even explains this). A rather odd
criticism is that he is too much like some mustache-twirling Snidely Whiplash
character (which was kinda the point).
Considering Star Wars has always been an homage to serials, it makes
sense to have a character like this.
Contrast this with how Star Wars
fans seem to like Jabba the Hutt. I
mean, a fat moron is a better villain than a capable military leader with an
awesome character design who knows how to choose his battles? Well, makes perfect sense to me.
My one problem is that, unlike Jabba, he wasn’t effectively integrated
into the trilogy unless you watched a spin-off cartoon not everyone
watched. Episode III just immediately introduces you to the character and expects
you to accept his presence.
36. KIM JONG-IL
Trey Parker, Team
America: World Police (2004)
Being based on a real person doesn’t stop him from being
one of the most hilarious comedic villains ever. He is amusingly foulmouthed and loud, but he
also has a truly horrifying plan to nuke all developed countries in order to
turn the entire world into a third world country. To make matters worse, he’s actually a
sapient alien cockroach in a fake human body. The one problem with this character is his
generic and tedious villain song, which contrasts dramatically with the fun soundtrack of the rest of the movie.
35. CLARENCE BODDICKER
Kurtwood Smith, RoboCop
(1987)
Despite his nebbishy appearance, Boddicker is a brutal,sadistic
criminal and a competent combatant. He
also knows how to make connections with powerful executives.
34. ROY BATTY
Rutger Hauer, Blade Runner (1982)
On a quest to save himself and his friends from their own
shortened lifespans, Batty is willing to murder any human standing in his
way. You can’t really blame him too much
either. He’s bred to be a killing machine
and has no reason to show mercy when society doesn’t even recognize his
personhood. When all his comrades are
dead, he toys with Deckard while giving him some perspective to our “hero”
before sparing him. Before passing, he
imparts some of his own knowledge for some attempt at a legacy. Batty is cunning, powerful, fierce, and
creepy, but he’s tragic anti-villain if there ever was one.
33. THE THIN MAN
Crispin Glover, Charlie’s
Angels Series (2000,2003)
Not much to this guy, but he’s my favorite mute
henchman. This guy just oozes
style. He dresses fine and even manages
to make smoking look cool. Crispin
Glover really did a great job with his interpretation of this character, and
the Thin Man is the only thing that makes these mediocre films worth checking
out.
32. JULES AND VINCENT
Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, Pulp Fiction (1994)
Already amusing because of their witty banter, Jules
Winfield and Vincent Vega contrast with each other quite well. While Jules is a genuinely skilled hitman,
Vincent is a subtly incompetent and petulant one whose calm demeanor is mostly
a result of his being high on smack most of the time. When they escape death in a seemingly
miraculous way, Jules takes it as a sign from God that he must give up a life
of crime while Vincent stays on his path.
In darkly comic irony, Vincent manages to survive these insane
situations until his luck eventually runs out and he is killed in an absurdly
coincidental way. While Jules redeems
himself, Vincent lives by the sword and dies by it.
31. T-1000
Robert Patrick, Terminator
2: Judgment Day (1991)
A liquid metal creature that’s nearly unstoppable even
against a T-800, The T-1000 has the same cold demeanor as the original
Terminator in a more unassuming form. He’s
clever enough to take the form of a cop, which people might trust. He occasionally shows some personality when
he expresses impatience and annoyance.
He can perfectly imitate any human, but he can’t form much simpler
mechanical devices with moving parts, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Although it’s universally known that he’s the
villain, the beginning of the movie does a pretty good job disguising this
until the reveal.
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