Only A Real Movie Buff Can Match The Villain To The Action Movie
- by Ben Sherlock
- – on
- in Movies and TV
A good villain can make or break an action movie. You’ve got the shootouts, the explosions, the car chases, the foot chases, all the other chases (boat, helicopter, plane, truck etc.), the wise-cracking sidekick, the damsel in distress (who is either the protagonist’s daughter or his love interest), and of course, the leading character. This will usually be some sort of clone or iteration of the John McClane character: a good, working guy who just wants to do the right thing and not get killed. That seems to work the best. So, the protagonist is usually more or less the same guy. In fact, his name is often the same: John. John McClane, John Rambo, John Wick, John Cale, Johnny Utah, John Matrix, John Connor, John Shaft, John Anderton, John Kruger – well, the list is endless. It’s a good character, which is why every screenwriter in Hollywood who attempts an action movie makes him their protagonist. But the villain is where things start to get different and exciting. Every good villain is the antithesis of the hero, so if your hero is an everyman, your villain should be an eccentric and out-there kind of guy. How well do you know the villains of action cinema? Match these villains to the movies they’re from to prove you’re a true action movie fan!
Agent Smith
“Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability.” Agent Smith is played by Hugo Weaving and he’s the guy who pursues Thomas Anderson, better known as Neo, down the rabbit hole. This seminal sci fi movie directed and written by the Wachowski siblings is a hugely influential combination of Japanese martial arts cinema, cyberpunk science fiction by the likes of William Gibson, and the iconography of Alice in Wonderland. Which of these action movies is he from?
Hans Gruber
Hans Gruber is arguably the most iconic villain from any action movie ever made. That final shot of him falling from the top of the Nakatomi Plaza is one of the best remembered and most famous shots in film history, and Alan Rickman’s performance in the role of Hans Gruber has influenced every portrayal of an action movie antagonist or an ominous terrorist or an Eastern European guy ever since. So, which classic 1988 action thriller is Hans Gruber from?
The Joker
Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, the clown nemesis of Batman with a screw loose in his head and scars and smeared makeup on his face, was so brilliant that he won a posthumous Academy Award for it. It’s a comic book movie about a superhero fighting a supervillain, and he won an Oscar for his performance in it. Amazing, right? That’s the power of Ledger’s performance paired with the slick directing and writing by Christopher Nolan. So, what movie is it?
Doc
This movie was released in the months leading up to the Weinstein effect, which exposed the past crimes of Kevin Spacey, who stars in the movie as this villain, Doc. The movie, written and directed by the great Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead, changed the game for action cinema and its soundtracks as it invented a whole new genre with its unique style of car action jukebox iPod musical comedy thriller extravaganza. Awesome. So, what movie is it?
T-1000
The films of the Terminator franchise, created by the ingenious James Cameron who never fails to make a box office hit, are among the greatest combinations of the science fiction and action genres. In one of them, the T-800 series that Arnold Schwarzenegger plays is threatened by the arrival of the T-1000, a later Terminator model that is better and stronger in every way. Cameron compares the T-1000 to a Porsche next to the T-800’s Panzer tank. Which of the Terminator movies is it from?
O-Ren Ishii
With the code name Cottonmouth, O-Ren Ishii is a part of the deadly assassin squad that left The Bride for dead in this beloved, highly grossing, critically adored action thriller directed and written by Quentin Tarantino as a homage to the martial arts cinema of Japan. The movie was released into theaters in two parts, dubbed “volumes,” because the movie in its original form, as one piece, was much too long. So, what movie is O-Ren Ishii the antagonist from?
Commodus
In a brilliant swords and sandals epic grounded in a historical setting but with universal appeal in the present day, directed by the great Sir Ridley Scott, Commodus is a main antagonist. He is the amoral, power-hungry, twisted son of Marcus Aurelius and actually murders his own father in the movie. The film swept the Oscars of the year it came out, was adored by critics and audiences alike, and grossed over $400 million at the worldwide box office. What movie is it?
Bodhi
In this surfing-based action thriller, Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Utah is an FBI agent who is sent to investigate a gang of surfers who are suspected to be the Ex-Presidents gang of bank robbers. They are named this, since they wear the masks of former US Presidents like Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter when they pull off their heists. As Utah goes deep undercover, he begins to care so deeply for Bodhi that he doesn’t want to turn him in. What movie is it?
Egor Korshunov
This movie stars Harrison Ford as the President of the United States and Gary Oldman as this terrific, sadistic villain who threatens him. The movie also stars Glenn Close, Xander Berkeley, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, and Paul Guilfoyle, and it started off a string of other Presidential action movies to follow. It solidified Harrison Ford’s place as a top action movie star, but it was Gary Oldman who really stole the show as this infamous villain. Which movie is it?
The Scorpio killer
This classic action thriller stars Clint Eastwood as a tough as nails cop in San Francisco who doesn’t play by the rules and doesn’t mind getting his hands a little dirty if it means saving lives, bringing criminals to justice, and doing the right thing. The story sees him hunting down an elusive and mysterious and sadistic serial killer who goes by the name “Scorpio.” The whole script was based on the mystery of the Zodiac killer. So, what movie is it?
Bennett
A badass Special Forces retiree’s daughter is kidnapped by some bad apples, so he breaks out the big guns and goes in to kick ass and take names until he has her back safe. Sound familiar? Well, this isn’t Taken. The badass isn’t Liam Neeson, the setting isn’t Paris, and the daughter isn’t Maggie Grace. It’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, the fictional Val Verde, and Alyssa Milano. Arnie ends up killing this bad guy with a steam pipe toward the end of the movie. But what movie is it?
Castor Troy
In this rare American movie to be directed by the great foreign director John Woo, John Travolta stars as an FBI agent named Sean Archer who has a personal vendetta against Castor Troy, the insane, murderous, sociopathic terrorist who murdered his son. Castor is played by the terrific Nicolas Cage, and the pair – through a series of wild and wacky events – end up undergoing a surgery to switch faces with one another. So, which of these action movies is it?
Arjen Rudd
The Lethal Weapon movies make up one of the greatest action movie franchises of all time, starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, who have the best chemistry of any actors ever. Arjen Rudd is the bad guy of one of the movies. He’s a South African diplomat who uses his immunity to head a gang of drug runners, and there’s not a damn thing Riggs or Murtaugh can do about it (until the latter “revokes” it). So, which Lethal Weapon movie is Arjen Rudd from?
Wez
Wez, the villain from a Mad Max movie, has a mohawk, he wears leather, and he serves as a lieutenant in the vicious gang led by Lord Humungus. A New York Times critic wrote that Wez is the “most evil of The Humungus’s followers...[a] huge brute who rides around on his bike, snarling psychotically.” The Mad Max movies are all really awesome action movies set in a world after the apocalypse decimated everything and turned it into a barren wasteland with nothing but cars, guns, and leather left. Which one is Wez from?
King Xerxes
This blood-spattered action war epic was adapted from a Frank Miller graphic novel by the Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder. It stars Gerard Butler, Michael Fassbender, Dominic West – and Rodrigo Santoro as the main villain of the story, King Xerxes. There was a prequel made to this movie, without any of the original cast, with the subtitle Rise of an Empire, and it did relatively well at the box office – but not as well as this one. What movie was this?
Simon Skinner
Simon Skinner is a supermarket owner played by Timothy Dalton, a former James Bond actor. At the beginning of the British action comedy thriller movie of which he’s the antagonist, Skinner admits to being “a slasher,” but then jokes that he’s a slasher of prices at his store. But then, as the movie comes to a close, we realize that he is, in fact, a slasher. And not of prices – of people. Which masterful blend of action and comedy is Simon Skinner from?
Viggo Tarasov
This movie is about a former hitman who goes after a ruthless crime lord’s son after he kills his dog. That dog was the only thing in his life that gave him any joy or happiness or hope since the tragic loss of his wife, and that little SOB had to come in and take that away from him. So, naturally, he wreaks revenge. Over the course of just one night, the ex-assassin ends up killing dozens upon dozens of bad guys. It all culminates in a boss battle with this crime boss. What movie is he from?
Dr. Belloq
The movie from which Dr. Rene Belloq is from is counted among the greatest action movies ever made. It was directed by Steven Spielberg from an idea by Star Wars legend George Lucas. It birthed a franchise that is highly beloved and has continued on to this day, with a fifth movie currently in production for a release within the next few years (the details of exactly when are a tad murky). Belloq is working against Dr. Jones to find an artefact, but Belloq is with the Nazis. What’s the movie?
Le Chiffre
The James Bond movies are always good for an eccentric and frightening villain. Some of the most iconic movie villains of all time have come from the Bond franchise, like Auric Goldfinger and Ernst Blofeld, whose standing in the rankings of the greatest villains in film history is tantamount to the likes of Darth Vader and the Joker. Le Chiffre was featured in one of the better Daniel Craig 007 movies – and one of the grittier ones. What movie is Le Chiffre from?
General Francis X. Hummel
This movie succeeds because of its sharp, funny, and clever screenplay, which we can credit to the rewrites conducted by the likes of Aaron Sorkin and Quentin Tarantino – all of the brilliant writing force in Hollywood contributed to this. The story revolves around Alcatraz Island, which is taken over by a bunch of rogue soldiers led by General Hummel, who threaten to attack San Francisco with nerve gas if their demands aren’t met. Which ‘90s Michael Bay movie is it?
Roy Batty
The premise of this movie is somewhat misleading. It’s described and marketed as a science fiction action movie about a cop who is tasked with hunting down some robots that have gone rogue. But it’s much deeper and more contemplative and philosophical than that, which may put off a lot of viewers. Roy Batty is the evil, athletic, genetically perfect, Aryan robot who terrorizes the main protagonist, played by Harrison Ford, throughout the whole movie. But what movie is it?
Cyrus the Virus
Cyrus the Virus, whose full name is Cyrus Grissom, is played by John Malkovich as a fellow prisoner to Nicolas Cage’s character Cameron Poe (which is a little too close to Poe Dameron to be a coincidence, right?). Cyrus is the one who holds a gun to a toy bunny’s head and Cage, with a deadly serious face, tells him to put down the bunny. It’s one of the greatest moments in the history of action cinema. What movie is it?
Neil McCauley
This slick crime thriller, directed by the wonderful Michael Mann, finally brought Al Pacino and Robert De Niro together on the big screen. They were in The Godfather Part II together, but since they were appearing in two different timelines, and De Niro was playing a character in his timeline who was dead by the era of Pacino’s timeline, they didn’t appear together on-screen until this movie, which inspired The Dark Knight, came out in 1995. What masterful movie is it?
Ajax
This superhero movie entered into a massively saturated market and managed to stand out with a truly unique style. For starters, it was rated R, so there was lots of swearing and graphic violence and sexual references that would usually be kept out of superhero blockbuster fare. Also, the lead character often stops a scene to talk to the camera, so it plays around with the format and isn’t as conservative as average blockbusters. It was a breath of fresh air. What movie is it?
Norman Stansfield
This Luc Besson movie is about a professional hitman who has to reluctantly take a 12 year old girl named Mathilda (played by a young Natalie Portman in one of her earliest film roles) under his wing after her family is slaughtered by a corrupt DEA agent played by Gary Oldman. Gary Oldman is great at playing bad guys. But then, he’s also great at playing good guys. And flawed guys, funny guys, scary guys, weird guys, historical figure guys – he’s pretty much the best actor ever. What movie is it?