Watching anActionfilm is a surefire way to spark adrenaline: car chases, fight scenes, and big theatrical explosions are all perfectly timed for the heroes to look as cool and powerful as possible. Yet there cannot be a hero if there’s no villain. Over the years, audiences have witnessed evil geniuses, disingenuous billionaires, and strong fighters who wreak havoc on unsuspecting cities across the world. Some fade away into oblivion as soon as they are defeated, but others have stood the test of time.
A-list actors have often expressed that playing the bad guy is more fun and challenging.In order to deliver a compelling on-screen villain, it’s important to dig into their motivations and discover what makes them tick. When they manage to steal a scene and become the character that audiences are most drawn to, then it’s clear they’ve done their dastardly job well.
10Cyrus Grisson (John Malkovich)
Con Air (1997)
Directed by Simon West,Con Airis filled with villains of many kinds.Set on an airplane carrying a group of prisoners, the criminal passengers stage a coup and take over the aircraft. With excellent support from Ving Rhames and Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich created a deplorable character who instills fear and dread in others every time he’s on the screen. As the mastermind of the hijacking and a longtime career criminal, Cyrus Grisson is ruthless at every turn.
Con Air
Cast
Con-Air is a 1990s action crime-thriller starring Nicholas Cage as former U.S. Ranger turned to convict Cameron Poe. Poe, in an act of self-defense and passion, is court-martialed for accidentally killing the man he protected his wife from. Having served his time and achieving Parole, Poe is on his way home with one problem - the transport plane he’s on has been hijacked by several dangerous convicts, led by one of the worst in the United States.
He has no qualms about letting the inmates do terrible things and only spares certain people when Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) works against him from the inside.When he finally finds out about the double-cross, he’ll stop at nothing to take out his foe. He’s responsible for the deaths of the guards onboard and nearly crashing the plane into the Strip. The mixture of intelligence, cunning, and a very twisted mind makes “The Virus” very memorable indeed.
9Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith)
RoboCop (1987)
The classic action filmRoboCopis brutal from start to finish, with the villain having no redeeming qualities to speak of. When Alex Murphy is killed in the line of duty by Clarence Boddicker and his criminal gang, he’s reconstructed into a peacekeeping human hybrid, RoboCop (Peter Weller).With his memories wiped, he’s tasked with keeping the streets of a dystopian Detroit safe, by any means possible. As he goes and attempts to clean up the streets and apprehend the crime lord, Boddicker becomes more and more violent.
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1987 film set in a dystopian Detroit, where the corporation Omni Consumer Products privatizes the police force. The plot follows Alex Murphy, a street cop who becomes the test subject for a cyborg prototype. As RoboCop, Murphy discovers the corporation’s malicious intentions and acts against them.
Smith chose to play the character as a highly capable but, ultimately, vile human being.He has a secret alliance with the other villain, CEO Dick Jones (Ronny Cox), as he carries out his illegal bidding. Despicable til the very end, when trying to save himself he runs over one of his own henchmen, who then melts from acid exposure. An unforgettable scene, to say the least.
8Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman)
Leon: The Professional (1994)
Luc Besson’s action thrillerLeon: The Professionalsees Academy Award winner Gary Oldman step into the role of a chaotic and twisted DEA agent.A cruel and corrupt officer, his unpredictable behavior gets even more erratic because of his substance abuse. He sees himself as above the law, abusing it at every turn and hiding behind his shield while he performs atrocities. The fact that he’s part of the police force is what makes him that much more terrifying.
Léon: The Professional
Directed by Luc Besson, the 1994 thriller Leon: The Professional tells the story of professional hitman Leon (Jean Reno), who forms a bond with young girl Mathilda (Natalie Portman) after taking her as a protégée after corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman) kills her family.
Every interaction he has is tainted with a smarmy feeling, even though he himself probably sees it as charm.As he hunts Leon (Jean Reno) and Mathilda (Natalie Portman), becoming ever more violent, the audience grows to increasingly fear and dislike him. Oldman delivers a stellar, egomaniacal performance, highlighting the villain’s innate narcissism, which contributes to causing his downfall.
7Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne)
The high-octane wild ride ofMad Max: Fury Roadis made even more so by its imposing arch-villain whose behavior is as scary as his appearance.A tyrant and a dictator, Immortan Joe manipulates all of his subjects into submission by controlling the most valuable resource, water.If this weren’t bad enough, he enslaves and abuses women in the name of legacy and power. He escapes feeling like a trope of a villain through his genuinely horrifying regime over the Citadel.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road is a post-apocalyptic film set in a desolate desert landscape where society has collapsed. Released in 2015, the story follows two rebels, Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa, as they attempt to survive and bring balance to a world torn by chaos and strife.
He creates an almost cult-like persona that subjugates those who are worse off.As he tries to fight off the resistance from Furiosa and Mad Max, his violence and lack of humanity come to full effect. With his “War Boys,” he tries to keep control that he so desperately clings onto, with no second thought of who gets hurt in the process. With his costuming reflecting his decaying morals, he represents how an obsessive craving for power can lead to a dystopian war zone with very few rules.
6Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving)
The Matrix (1999)
Untiring, relentless, and seemingly infinite, he just kept coming back. As a tangible representation of oppression within the Matrix, Agent Smith is a constant foil to Keanu Reeves' Neo as he tries to maintain order and keep the simulation going. The most unnerving thing about Smith is his mechanical and methodical approach to everything he does. The audience learns he’s a machine and Weaving captures this feeling of soullessness perfectly.
The Matrix
The Matrix, released in 1999, is set in the 22nd century and follows a computer hacker, Neo, portrayed by Keanu Reeves. He joins a group of underground insurgents led by Morpheus to combat the domineering computers that control the earth, in a battle that blurs the lines between reality and illusion.
His disdain for humankind can be felt in every monologue, and viewers can tell he does not enjoy his job at all.But it’s this constant need to keep going that leaves everyone trying to catch their breath. Smith shows up when he’s least expected, and won’t stop protecting the objective. His mastery of the system is apparent in the way he fights, which allows for some of the most iconic hand-to-hand combat scenes in cinema.
5Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson)
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
A pseudo-eco-warrior is the main villain of the suave yet violent action adventureKingsman: The Secret Service, played by a legendary actor who elevates the underrated film even further.Richmond Valentine is a billionaire who believes he knows best and tries to cull a large chunk of the human race with the use of technology. That in itself sounds frighteningly plausible, and Jackson plays the character as a genius buffoon.
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Based on the comic book series of the same name, Kingsman: The Secret Service tells the story of rebellious teen Eggsy (Taron Egerton) as he’s inducted into a top-secret spy agency by a man codenamed Galahad (Colin Firth). After learning that billionaire Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) plans to destroy the world, Eggsy and Galahad set out to avert international disaster and uncover widespread corruption that threatens to consume the Kingsman agency itself.
Valentine’s plan is to protect the rich and famous and repopulate using all his resources and connections. While his intentions may (at a stretch) seem like they have some merit to them, it’s the disregard for those who are “less than” that makes this character so deplorable. He’s an elitist, ego-maniac with a very skewed vision of the world, yet his own distaste for violence and gore is an ironic twist to the eccentric character.
4Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper)
Speed (1994)
Speedis a movie with a villain who harbors a straightforward motivation of revenge, with a sense of entitlement and a feeling of under-appreciation fueling this particular antagonist.Howard Payne served as a cop for years and felt that his skills and contributions were never properly rewarded.When he uses his masterful knowledge of strategic planning and bomb-making to finally get what he thinks he deserves, he recklessly endangers the lives of many innocent civilians.
Speed
Created by John de Bont and Graham Yost, Speed is a movie franchise that follows characters caught in precarious situations as passengers aboard vehicles set to crash and detonate. The first film stars Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, with Reeves playing the role of Officer Jack Traven as he hunts a dangerous bomber, finding himself stuck on a bus that will explode if it falls under a certain speed.
His greed and lack of regard for human life are what make him a villain, but his history with an unfair system makes him relatable in a way.A petty and malicious man, Payne fixates on Jack Traven (Keany Reeves) and sets up an elaborate game of cat and mouse to personally torture him, with killing the lovable Harry (Jeff Daniels) being the final straw.
3Blofeld (Christoph Waltz)
Spectre (2015)
The enigmatic and evil head of SPECTRE has been portrayed on-screen by many different actors during the long-running James Bond franchise.Most recently, and perhaps, most menacingly, Blofeld was played by double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, who brought his own brand of villainy to this iconic role. His list of atrocities is very long, with biological, technological, and actual warfare all part of his vast evil resume. He operates in the shadows, creating a ghost-like persona that seems impossible to catch.
Spectre
Spectre, released in 2015, is the 24th installment in the James Bond series, starring Daniel Craig as the legendary MI6 agent. As Bond follows a cryptic lead from his past, he uncovers the shadowy organization SPECTRE, while M faces political challenges to protect the secret service’s existence.
With unlimited resources and a brilliant mind, he’s a petrifying agent of chaos with a personal vendetta against Bond (Daniel Craig). Blofeld’s modus operandi is to always get his way, and manages to recruit a host of highly skilled and intelligent followers who help him bring his malignant visions to life. With so many recognizable characteristics, from his scar to his Persian cat,he’ll live on as one of the most iconic supervillains in the James Bond universe — even if he was considered a poor plot twist inSpectre.
2Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage & John Travolta)
Face/Off (1997)
The far-fetched and biologically impossible concept ofFace/Offis what makes it extremely entertaining.Having the villain played by two very different actors was a bold move on John Woo’s behalf, but the payoff is worth it. Castor Troy is a vile criminal with a taste for destruction; chaos and annihilation are what he craves, and he carries out his plans with a flamboyant flair. When Nicolas Cage plays Castor Troy, he’s in his element. He has a chilling look in his eye and an arrogance that can’t be matched.
Face/Off
Face/Off is a 1997 action thriller directed by John Woo, featuring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in lead roles. The film follows an FBI agent who undergoes a facial transplant to assume the identity of a criminal mastermind, a plan that unravels when the criminal awakens and targets his life.
In John Travolta’s hands, he must subdue his murderous tendencies in order to fit in with his new life,but when he lets it out the audience knows exactly what they’re dealing with. He’s another ego-maniac whoever he’s played by, and his greed and sadism are the most terrifying parts of his personality. The fact that he killed a child with no remorse is a true reflection of his ruthless character.
1Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman)
Die Hard (1988)
Calm, cunning, and with his eyes firmly on the prize,Die Hard’s Hans Gruber is as memorable as a villain gets.A sophisticated criminal, he sets up his master plan to rob a highly protected safe in the Nakatomi building. When examining each separate part of Gruber’s plan, it’s clear to see that the objective was to always kill all the hostages. He is more than happy to humor them and use their presence for leverage, but if it weren’t for the heroics of Bruce Willis' John McClane, they all would have died in the roof explosion.
Die Hard Dracula
Die Hard Dracula follows Steven, an American wandering through Europe, who encounters Dracula’s supernatural threats in a small town. Teaming up with Dr. Van Helsing, Steven confronts the vampire using inventive weapons, while grappling with his resemblance to the innkeeper’s daughter, who looks identical to his deceased girlfriend.
Gruber’s disregard for his own henchmen is obvious as well, as he clearly doesn’t care when any of them are taken out. Yet his ability to react to unexpected situations shows there’s much more to this clever villain. He instructs his guys to shoot the glass, he shoots two people point blanc with no hesitation, and he nearly pulls Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) over the edge. With a movie so beloved and often rewatched, even more fascinating aspects of this character come to light, and he remains one of the most watchable bad guys ever.
