Taken from the trailer of the original "Die Hard" in 1988, "they're as Brilliant as they are ruthless," is a line used to describe the film's villains, lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman). I remembered the line as I was watching the most recent Die Hard -yes, I'm talking about Die Hard 4 again - and observing how fucking lame the villain was. Now, this is nothing against Timothy Olyphant, who was twice as menacing in "The Girl Next Door," as a porn magnet, but I suspect my true beef is with the writers and director of Die Hard 4. For whatever reason, the studio chose to saddle the flick with a PG-13 rating and, I think, as a consequence, Olyphant was commanded to rope in his performance. He couldn't have been less formidable. I don't know that he wouldn't have been more appropriate in a Cody Banks flick. I suppose he was trying to smolder under his icy exterior, but all I got was a bored Timothy Olyphant deeply pissed he couldn't let loose with more verve and hate. It takes a considerable amount of hate to plan and execute his diabolical design. Jon McClane, in any normal Die Hard flick, would Windex the fucking windows with this guy's ass.
With that said, let us consider the original Die Hard. You have John McClane, hero extraordinaire, taking on Hans Gruber, the standard of hissable villains. Make no mistake about it; the original Die Hard works well for many reasons, but its biggest assets is Hans Gruber. Gruber was smart, savvy, and capable of sudden, explosive action. He shot and killed at least two people in cold blood. He rarely got rattled and could produce a nice quip with fantastic timing. He was a mean bastard and secretly, deep down, you kind of wanted him to succeed. That is the secret to a great villain - the audience has to secretly, almost subconsciously, root for the villain, or, in other words, thoroughly love to hate him.
Think of Hannibal Lecter. Disgusting cannibal? Maybe? Also, a brilliant doctor and manipulator with an intellect far superior to those around him. You love him. When he walks away at the end of "Silence of the Lambs," you think, "damn, he got away. That's fucking cool. Creepy, but cool." Everyone thought that, which is why the character was brought back in many more movies. That is why Hopkins took home the Oscar for 10 minutes of screen time.
Darth Vader, you ask? Nowhere near as witty or realistic, but every bit as cool visually. His costume, his deep, speaker-filtered breathing, his father-stature. He was like God.
The greatest villain of all time? Well, many people have different preferences. There are almost too many great villains to count. Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West," Dennis Hopper in "Blue Velvet," Jack Nicholson in every other movie he was doing for a while. And yet, for my money, I would not hesitate to list Tim Roth in "Rob Roy," at the top of my list. I have no doubt that this performance is the nastiest piece of work to ever oppose a protagonist. To look at him, you'd see a man of tiny stature, a fop, with an acidic tongue that you might think compensates for his lack of physical prowess. Bullshit. The man is more deadly with his sword than anything else he might have in his arsenal. He murders, steals, rapes, and lies his way throughout the movie. I don't think that I have ever wanted a villain to suffer through a nasty comeuppance more than I did with Roth in this movie. Just go to IMDB and look at the memorable quotes uttered by this vile sonofabitch. To see him uttering them on screen is all the more amazing.
Again, I'm certain that everyone has a favorite villain. I'm partial to Hans Gruber and John Malkovich in "In the Line of Fire," too. I also think that Gene Hackman in "Unforgiven" is a real fucker, albeit a fucker in a land of fuckers. Still, I don't know that any of them hold a candle to Roth in "Rob Roy." Just rent it and see.
I felt compelled to write this all down because I have seen a real lack of memorable villains in recent times. Even in the new "Casino Royale." The Bourne movies seem to survive without a great antagonist through the sheer physicality of the productions, but I think you will see more attention paid to villains in the near future. I hear that "3:10 to Yuma" features a great psycho in Ben Foster. He was creepy in Hostage too. So, I await that.
There is an old rule of thumb: Bond flicks are only as good as their villains. I believe this is true. I also believe it should be the standard that all thrillers should be held at. Compelling villains more often than not equate to a compelling struggle.
Anyone remember Edward Norton in "Primal Fear?" I rest my case.
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I agree, with pretty much everything you've said. Villains drive an action flick, and Olyphants character in The Girl Next Door (comedy), was scarier than the role he played in the latest Die Hard (not a comedy). We should write Die Hard 5 together, Mr. Hackett. We'll bring good old Hans back. We'll say he didn't die when McClain threw him from the top of the Hyataki building, it was all part of his plan, he had a parachute cleverly hidden under his suit, yes, that's it, we'll bring every one up to speed in a flashback! Oh yes, a cheesy flashback. Where is that actor, the guy that played Hans, can we get him? Let's have our people call his people and make it happen.
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