Ok, here goes. Today's question.
To me, there are 2 kinds of movie villains.
There are the ones you can't help but enjoy despite how sicko they are, and the ones that are true sickos, and you can't wait to see them meet their demise. (I suppose there is a third kind too, the ones who just don't threaten you at all, and you're just not impressed in the slightest, but more often than not, that's the result of bad movie-making). For the most part this list doesn't include monsters, who
So gimme some of yours. Here's a few of mine:
THE ONES I ENJOY:
Clarence Boddicker from Robocop. I can't help but love him. Of course I want his ass dead, but he's just, I dunno, he's so damned hilarious, spitting blood on the cop's log report.
Darth Vader -- and even before George Lucas ruined everything. He's a great menacing villain. Classic.
Alan Rickman in most movies, but particularly Die Hard, Quigley Down Under and Robin Hood (where he's the only good thing about the picture). I mean, how can you not?
Michael Wincott as Top Dollar in The Crow. Another great menacing villain.
Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes in Good Bad & Ugly
THE ONES I DESPISE:
Tyree, played by Jeff Fahey from Silverado. What a sick bastard. His death comes not a moment too soon for me.
Boggs from Shawshank Redemption and Spivey (?) from The Green Mile -- a similar type of sadistic sadist, and they both get what they deserve for sure.
The Emperor -- Screw the Emperor. I like when he dies. He sucks.
Ben Affleck in Dazed & Confused -- plays a total unrepentant prick. Deserves his comeuppance.
THE ONES WHO DON'T THREATEN ME:
Andy Garcia's character in Ocean's 11: A huge violation of the "show, don't tell" rule that I learned in 8th Grade English. They tell me a lot of reasons why he's to be feared, and we see none of these things. There's a reason why most movies include the gratuitous scene where the villain kills a henchman "just for the hell of it." Because it establishes menace. I'm not menaced by this guy. I'm not threatened at all. It's the major flaw in that movie.
Joaquim de Almeida, who plays "Bucho" in Desperado, with Antonio Banderas, and this is mostly because of something my sister said once about him while we were first seeing the movie: "I'm not scared of this guy at all. This guy, he scares me less than -- what was the villain from The Three Amigos? El Guapo? Yeah, he scares me less than El Guapo."
To me, there are 2 kinds of movie villains.
There are the ones you can't help but enjoy despite how sicko they are, and the ones that are true sickos, and you can't wait to see them meet their demise. (I suppose there is a third kind too, the ones who just don't threaten you at all, and you're just not impressed in the slightest, but more often than not, that's the result of bad movie-making). For the most part this list doesn't include monsters, who
So gimme some of yours. Here's a few of mine:
THE ONES I ENJOY:
Clarence Boddicker from Robocop. I can't help but love him. Of course I want his ass dead, but he's just, I dunno, he's so damned hilarious, spitting blood on the cop's log report.
Darth Vader -- and even before George Lucas ruined everything. He's a great menacing villain. Classic.
Alan Rickman in most movies, but particularly Die Hard, Quigley Down Under and Robin Hood (where he's the only good thing about the picture). I mean, how can you not?
Michael Wincott as Top Dollar in The Crow. Another great menacing villain.
Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Lee Van Cleef as Angel Eyes in Good Bad & Ugly
THE ONES I DESPISE:
Tyree, played by Jeff Fahey from Silverado. What a sick bastard. His death comes not a moment too soon for me.
Boggs from Shawshank Redemption and Spivey (?) from The Green Mile -- a similar type of sadistic sadist, and they both get what they deserve for sure.
The Emperor -- Screw the Emperor. I like when he dies. He sucks.
Ben Affleck in Dazed & Confused -- plays a total unrepentant prick. Deserves his comeuppance.
THE ONES WHO DON'T THREATEN ME:
Andy Garcia's character in Ocean's 11: A huge violation of the "show, don't tell" rule that I learned in 8th Grade English. They tell me a lot of reasons why he's to be feared, and we see none of these things. There's a reason why most movies include the gratuitous scene where the villain kills a henchman "just for the hell of it." Because it establishes menace. I'm not menaced by this guy. I'm not threatened at all. It's the major flaw in that movie.
Joaquim de Almeida, who plays "Bucho" in Desperado, with Antonio Banderas, and this is mostly because of something my sister said once about him while we were first seeing the movie: "I'm not scared of this guy at all. This guy, he scares me less than -- what was the villain from The Three Amigos? El Guapo? Yeah, he scares me less than El Guapo."