Ramzee says:
Love them or hate them, every movie needs a good villain.
Whether they’re comical, charismatic, psychotic or just pure evil; they’re the
ones we love to hate. Sure, everyone
hopes that the square-jawed Johnny Bravo looking hero gets to save the day at
the end but where would he be without a villain? Every protagonist needs an antagonist. The man in black vs the cowboy with the white
hat. The battle between good and evil.
Sometimes we want the villain to live long enough just so
that we can hear them deliver another cool line with only the swagger that a
villain possesses…and sometimes we hope they get drowned in a pool of hobo
urine. Whatever it is, they deserve as
much credit as any hero because they offer what Agent Smith so eloquently told
Neo, “Purpose”. They are essential and deserve to be celebrated for being
deliciously creepy and sinister.
5. Kathryn Merteuil –
Cruel Intentions
And you thought Buffy The Vampire Slayer couldn’t be more
boneable? Kathryn is unlike any other female villain you’ve seen before (except
maybe for Nurse Ratchet from Cuckoo’s Nest but Kathryn is hotter). She’s a strong female, methodical, evil,
remorseless and a bitch in every way you imagined a girl out of your league
would be. She was feared by men and
women alike and in her spare time corrupted innocent young virgins. How can you
not love this girl?
4. Raoul Silva – Skyfall
Javier Bardem plays, what I think, is the best Bond villain
yet. He steals every scene he’s in. Raoul Silva is intelligent, witty and
flirtatious. Seriously, even James Bond
gets caught a little off guard when the latest Bond villain seductively strokes
Bond’s chest instead of a white cat like previous villains were known to
do. His presence is not so much menacing
as it is confusing. He is a 6 foot
hulking Javier Bardem with bleached blonde hair, a white suit and a tendency to
make playful homo-erotic innuendos when threatening James Bond. I suppose it’s about time that horny old
James got a taste of his own sexually harassing medicine.
3. Dr. Evil – Austin
Powers
Yes, Dr.Evil. How can you not love Dr.Evil? He built a
freakin’ “Laser” to destroy the world!
He didn’t rob a bank. He didn’t attempt to assassinate the president. He
didn’t kidnap Liam Neeson’s daughter. No, Dr.Evil threatened to blow up the
world if he didn’t get “One Million Dollars”. The world! He is Evil.
He’s so evil that his name is Evil. He’s so evil that he has a mini
clone that is evil. He doesn’t stroke
furry cats like old Bond villains, his cat doesn’t even have hair. Mr.Bigglesworth is a hairless cat. Only the most evil of evil villains own
hairless cats. But beside all of that he
is the most loveable villain of all time.
A father who just wants a relationship with his son, Scotty, and to
prove to Scotty that he truly can be the most evil villain there ever was.
2. Dr. Hannibal
Lector – The Silence Of The Lambs
“Do you still hear the lambs Clarice?”
Hannibal Lecter was the villain who was the inspiration for
future films to create more intelligent villains. Played to perfection by Anthony Hopkins, he
sent chills down your spine with every word that crossed his lips. Most of the fear he placed in you, was from
inside a prison cell…and then he escaped.
The scariest thing they could do was make you believe that the most
evil, sadistic, cannibal, criminal mastermind was behind bars and then show you
how he escapes to be free to roam your neighbourhood. And this after the creepiest line in the film
was burned into your memory,
“I ate his liver with
some fava beans and a nice chianti. Sslslslslslsssss”
1. Kaizer Soze – The Usual Suspects
Kaizer
Soze is the ultimate villain because he doesn’t really exist. He’s a mythical figure that is characterized
only through criminal folklore, hearsay and exaggerated rumours. A spook story. The boogey man.
Kaizer
Soze is the devil. He makes you believe
only what he wants you to believe. You
do only what he wants you to do and even criminals who got shot more times than
50Cent fear this man. Probably the most famous line in the film that describes
the power of Kaizer Soze is when Verbal Kint says, “The greatest trick the
devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he didn’t exist”.
This
villain makes you want to be a villain.
You know it’s wrong but you can’t help but want to be him. To have that power. He doesn’t need the physical presence to
strike fear into another human being. He
can go toe to toe with men badder than Mr.T and mind fuck them better than
Christoph Waltz’ Jew Hunter character ever could.
“Keaton always said, ‘I don’t believe in God
but I’m afraid of him’. Well, I believe
in God and the only thing that scares me is, Kaizer Soze.”
The Jillybean says:
I honestly think there's a little villain in everyone. How
can you not secretly aspire to be that badass? These guys do what they want and
don't let anyone tell them otherwise. Sometimes they scare the crap out of us,
sometimes we simply loathe them, and other times we’re secretly cheering them
on against the far more boring hero. There are way too many great villains to
mention, but here are my personal top five:
5. The Joker – The
Dark Knight
The Heath Ledger Joker was an entirely new creation that
fascinated and terrified pretty much everyone. Even to the end you wondered if
he could possibly be reasoned with, but he was a rabid dog: no grand master
plan, no greater scheme for enrichment or religious ideals or even revenge. You
couldn’t relate to him in any way, and his thoroughly creepy mannerisms sent
shivers down my spine.
All due respect to Jack Nicholson, he was a little hard to
take seriously. Alfred summed it up nicely: “Some men just want to watch the
world burn.”
4. Malificent –
Sleeping Beauty
Malificent was probably the first movie villain that ever
truly terrified me. She had minions, she had an evil laugh, she had horns and
crazy witch-powers and could turn into a dragon. Pretty scary as a
five-year-old who thought the movie was going to be about taking naps and
kissing princes.
But as I’ve gotten older Malificent has started to scare me
in totally new ways. When you think about it, she’s really a bit of a social
outcast. A bit older, maybe not conventionally pretty, single woman with a lot
of pets. She obviously feels a bit isolated, and then the king and queen
purposefully snub her at the social event of the season.
So she just kinda snaps. And okay, maybe taking it out on a
baby was a bit much, but I just sort of empathise with her a bit, y’know? Okay
now I’m just starting to scare myself. This is why you don’t drink and watch
Disney, people.
3. Darth Vader – Star
Wars Episodes IV-VI
How do I fear thee Vader? Let me count the ways... Imposing
physical presence complete with black mask to hide any trace of emotion? Check.
Deep, alpha-male voice? Check. Complete mastery of mystical powers capable of
killing a man without even touching him? Check. Planet-sized death machine?
Check. Secret emotional layers discovered at the 11th hour when he
couldn’t stand to see his only son being tortured? Ummm, let me get a tissue…
Millions of light sabre-wielding geeks can’t be wrong; even
the combined efforts of Hayden Christianson and George Lucas himself couldn’t
kill Vader’s cool in the prequels that must not be named. All hail the king of
badassery!
2. The Shark - Jaws
He was the ultimate evil: remorseless, mysterious, and an
apex predator evolved over 300 million years with the sole purpose of killing
whatever happened to be floating nearby.
Just try to tell me you’ve never, and I mean never, worried about sharks when you got
into the ocean. Rubbery and mechanical he may be, Jaws made an entire
generation scared to go in the water, and may or may not be the reason I still
don’t know how to swim. We know it’s just a movie, we tell ourselves sharks
don’t actively attempt to crash boats, but that shiver down your spine when
something brushes your leg in the water? That’s still Jaws.
1.
The Phantom - The Phantom
of the Opera
Now hear me out before you get all judgy. This guy’s
certifiably wacko, granted. But it’s that same kind of wacko displayed by
serial killers who get married while in prison. The same way Ted Bundy charmed
dozens of women, and I’m assuming this is how Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein got
laid. It’s that sexy wacko that gets
the ladies all crazylike.
Here we have Gerard Butler at a near-300 level of fitness.
And he can sing. And he can work that cape like nobody’s business. I’m sorry,
but a rich pretty boy with flouncy blouses and bouncy hair doesn’t stand a
chance. This is why the Phantom is so dangerous: even though you know in your
heart he’s a murdering schizophrenic psychopath with a blow-up doll in a
wedding dress that looks eerily like you… you just can’t help yourself.
And that is all.
(*guest Jillybean - Anya Klaasen. Follow her on twitter @AnyaFK)
