Villains have more fun. That old saying has been proven time and time again inmovies where charismatic villainsthreaten to steal the show right out from under the bland hero. These classic antagonists aren’t generally burdened with the need to have a satisfying character arc or even be relatable to an audience, which makes it fun for writers to get wild with their characterizationandactors to give completely out-of-pocket performances.
While the key to many great villains comes in limiting their exposure and screen time, never letting their outlandish antics become overwhelming and maintaining an aura of mystique, sometimes they are just so damn compelling that audiences can’t help but want more of them. Sometimes, a villain can be so much better than the hero or the movie itself that everyone just wishes they were the main character instead. These areten villains who deserve the spotlight far more than their heroes.
10’Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Jaws: The Revengeis the worst of its franchise by a nautical mile. It’s damn nearan unwatchable sequelthat is more famous for the fact thatMichael Cainecouldn’t collect his Academy Awardin person than it is for anything that happens on screen. The plot, so much as there is one, concerns yet another great white shark causing trouble for the Brody family, but this time the killer fish seems to be deliberately seeking vengeance against them.
Setting aside that this absolutely ludicrous premise could be solved by the family moving literally anywhere that doesn’t have any oceanfront property, the idea of a shark with a vendetta is so brilliantly bonkers it’s hard to believe it features in the third sequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time and not an Asylum mockbuster.The fourthJawsmovie was never going to be good,and the human characters are really only there to become chum anyway, so if it had instead been made from the perspective of the shark, it would at least have been unique.
Jaws: The Revenge
9’The Little Mermaid' (1989)
Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements
Hot take:Ariel is a lame protagonist. Sure, the youngest daughter of Poseidon has more diverse interests than her singing, preening sisters, and she’s got a fine collection of gadgets and gizmos, but the mermaid is willing to risk all of that and her voice for a whitebread prince with zero charisma whom she hasn’t even actually met. Now, the sea witch Ursula? Girl’s got style and personality. Easilyone of Disney’s best female villains, Ursula’s design and demeanor were inspired by infamous drag performerDivine, best known forJohn Waters’cult classicPink Flamingos, and the character brings some much-needed spice to an otherwise mild underwater soup.
There are plenty of villains who, by now, have been given solo movies that usually try to retcon their wicked ways through some unnecessary backstory lined with tragedy, but Ursula is too good for that. This queen is evil because she likes it anddigs on turning empty-headed merfolk into emaciated shrimpsfor the hell of it. That’s a story way more interesting than two bores in a boat who need a singing crab to jumpstart their libidos.
The Little Mermaid
8’Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves' (1991)
Directed by Kevin Reynolds
Once upon a time, there was a screenplay that turned the Robin Hood legend on its ear by telling the story fromthe perspective of the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham. That script was ground up by the Hollywood machine and eventually turned into the utterly conventionalRobin HoodbyRidley Scott. Nevertheless, the idea of a film from the perspective of the heroic outlaw’s nemesis remains intriguing, and if there’s one film version of the character who deserves that treatment, it’sAlan Rickman’sunhinged sheriff inRobin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
In a thoroughly mediocre medieval action movie, featuring a thoroughly AmericanKevin Costneras the English hero, Rickman’s scenery-chewing performance is a saving grace. Every scene featuring the iconic actor is electric, and the film suffers whenever he is offscreen. If Hollywood had any sense, they would’vemade Rickman the star of the movie and let him rip the entire film apartas he tries to bring the hooded outlaw to justice.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
7’Under Siege' (1992)
Directed by Andrew Davis
Under Siegeis generally considered to beSteven Seagal’s best movie — not that there’s much competition in his career, whichfeatures far more bad moviesthan decent ones. What makes hisDie Hardripoffmore palatable than most is the competent action direction fromAndrew Davisand a pair of over-the-top villain performances fromTommy Lee JonesandGary Busey.
While Seagal is busy mumbling his way through any scene that doesn’t feature his aikido skills,Jones and Busey are having an absolute blast tearing scenes uptogether. A deranged buddy movie featuring the two actors commandeering a battleship for high-seas shenanigans is a far more interesting prospect than a movie that’s trying to further the career of one of the worst action heroes of all time.
Under Siege
6’Street Fighter' (1994)
Directed by Steven E. de Souza
Jean-Claude Van Dammehas a lot more charisma thanSteven Seagal, but even The Muscles from Brussels is lost at sea in the execrably badadaptation of the beloved video gameStreet Fighter. To be fair to Van Damme, no one comes off looking good in the lousy ’90s action movie — no one exceptRaul Julia,that is. Best known to audiences for his performance as Gomez in thelive-actionAddams Familymovies, Julia plays the villainous M. Bison, a tyrannical warlord with a penchant for hefty monologues.
Just about any other actor of Julia’s caliber would have phoned in their performance for such a cartoonish movie. Instead, the acclaimed actor turns the dial past eleven and gives the movie all the energy it has, a feat made all the more impressive consideringJulia was battling stomach cancer at the timeof filming. Taken far too soon by his illness, Julia left behind a number of indelible performances that had a major impact on ’90s audiences, andhis performance as M. Bison deserved to be front and centerin his movie.
Street Fighter
5’A Nightmare on Elm Street' (2010)
Directed by Samuel Bayer
The2010 remake ofA Nightmare on Elm Streetwas an absolute abomination that made some horrendous changes toWes Craven’s horror classic. One thing the remake did get right, though, was casting character actorJackie Earle Haleyin the role of Freddy Krueger. The actor made the role his own, standing out fromRobert Englund’s often more comedic turns witha take that some even consider scarier.
Another change that was welcome in the remake was the way it attempted to twist audiences' expectations by presenting the possibility that Krueger was an innocent man who was wrongly accused. The movie never sticks to the storyline and, of course, abandons it tomake Krueger an even more heinous villain than ever before, but the seeds are there for something far more interesting than the rote remake that was delivered. AnElm Streetreboot from the perspective of Krueger with Haley under the hat would’ve been a far better addition to the series instead of a franchise-killing bog-standard remake.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
4’The Mummy' (2017)
Directed by Alex Kurtzman
TheTom Cruise-led reboot ofThe Mummywas a box office disaster that was reviled by fans and critics in equal measure and puta quick end to Universal’s Dark Universebefore it really got started. Much has already been written about the film’s tumultuous production, which saw the star exercising heavy creative influence to turn the film into more of an action vehicle for himself rather than a showcase for the titular monster.
The shift is unfortunate becauseSofia Boutella’stake on the ancient Egyptian character is far more interesting than Cruise’s boring hero. The film absolutely squanders the potential of having a female mummy, never giving the character enough time to be explored.There’s an entire feminist revision buried deep in the screenplaysomewhere, and maybe if Boutella had been the lead, instead of Cruise, a much more interesting horror movie could’ve resurrected a new era of monster movies for Universal.
3’Morbius' (2022)
Directed by Daniel Espinosa
Morbiusfell flat on its faceright out of the box office gate. The Sony adaptation of the vampiric Marvel villain was misguided from the start, and the self-serious antics from starJared Leto, combined with an internet cottage industry built around meme-ing the movie to death, meant it hardly had a chance to survive. Despite beinga superhero disaster, the movie is still watchable, and one of the biggest reasons for that isMatt Smith’s flamboyant bad guy, who isten times more entertaining than Leto’s dour vampire lead.
Smith is operating on the correct wavelength that the rest of the movie should be on. Unfortunately, the movie never gets close to leaning into its campier elements and tries to treat its characters with the same gravitas as any other iconic superhero. Smith was another element of the movie that became an instant meme, mostly thanks to his dance skills, which most audiences would gladly watch two hours of instead of sitting throughMorbiusagain.
2’Thor: Love and Thunder' (2022)
Directed by Taika Waititi
Bringing back directorTaika Waititito follow up hisincredibly entertaining work onThor: Ragnarokseemed like a no-brainer for Marvel at the time, and initially the sequel looked very promising, butThor: Love and Thunderturned out terrible, except for its villain. While the rest of the movie doubles down on the goofy humor of its predecessor without ever forming an emotionally satisfying or even cohesive story,Christian Balegives a wonderfully layered performance as Gorr the God Butcher.
Unfortunately, Bale’s work is basically lost amid all the noise and screaming goats that fill out the rest of the runtime, and audiences hardly get to see any of the character’s actual god-butchering. A movie fully devoted toGorr waging a one-man war against the selfish godsthat populate the MCU is something far too daring to expect the studio to attempt. However, they could have at least given the character some of the screentime devoted to lazy jokes and bad callbacks to help flesh him out and show more of what makes him such a danger to Thor and his friends.Gorr is a villain in search of a much better moviewhere he should be the lead.
Thor: Love and Thunder
1’The Super Mario Bros. Movie' (2023)
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic
The Super Mario Bros. Movieis a fairly faithfulvideo game adaptation that is, at best, just fine. The story hits all the major points and doesn’t go on too long, the animation is bright and bouncy, and the cast,includingChris Prattas Mario, all do a serviceable job of bringing the fan-favorite characters to life. It’s all perfectly fine. The one element that manages to rise above the movie’s otherwise middling efforts isJack Black’s performance as the King of the Koopas, Bowser.
In addition tofinding a good use for Black’s musical talents(“Peaches” is an absolute banger), the character’s unrequited love for the Princess is far more compelling than either of the plumber brothers' plotlines. There’s still time for the cowards at Illumination and Nintendo to right this egregious wrong and give the big musical turtle dragon a solo movie.
