written by Jonatan Dimeo 16713097
Everybody loves
a hero, but nobody ever forgets a villain. Whether he (or she) is an evil
genius, violent criminal, or a cunning killer, a movie is just not complete
without the presence of a truly evil villain. Some movies can’t be separated
from its villains because, simply, they are too impressive. They possess a real
charisma to charm the audience, and sometimes, they are the most impressive
character we find on the screen.
What qualities make a really good
villain? They must possess both brain and brawns. Brawn without brain leads to
a laughable character, like Bale in Batman and Robin, in a stark contrast to
Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Whereas brain without brawn creates a cunning
enemy without him (or her) posing a real threat when confronted one on one,
just like Palpatine in Star Wars, whom Darth Vader easily overpowers. Add a
little bit eccentricity, or insanity, any word you prefer, a villain would
theoretically be perfect. Now, the big question is, which villain perfectly mixed these essential qualities and thus makes an epic movie?
Two names pop up in my mind. The first
is Hannibal Lecter in Silence of The Lamb. Portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, this
Hannibal perfectly straddles the line between good and evil, blurring the
line in progress. He scares us from the first moment he appeared, inside a
prison. His lunatic behavior came out when he was transferred to another
prison eating one of the police officer’s nose, and subsequently make his
escape. Hopkins surely wouldn’t won his Oscar if this character is not that
special, considering his time on screen is just a few seconds over 16 minutes. Practically, this fact makes Silence of the Lamb a film about Hannibal himself,
instead of the main protagonist, Clarice Sterling.
The second one is The Joker. While
Hannibal still has a good side, Joker is clearly losing all his good virtues.
In the film, Alfred once said, “some men aren’t looking for anything logical,
like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn”. This statement pretty much sums up
what kind of villain The Joker is. He changed Harvey Dent, the white knight,
the once people’s hero, to Two Face, a wicked sick murderer. He set the police
force on a chaos. He nearly exploded two ships full of people. But the most villainous
moment was when he lied, exchanging Rachel and Dent’s location when giving
directions to Batman, resulting in Rachel’s death. Never have we found a
superhero, suffer so much before he could defeat his enemy, and when finally
he knocked Ledger’s Joker out, he has lost everything including his own love
interest. Truly, the Dark Knight couldn’t be more noir if it weren’t for The
Joker’s presence.
In conclusion, a tense,
intriguing movie couldn’t be made without an ingenious villain. While the
hero remains the vocal point, the thrill or the buzz we felt when we watch a
movie is often the result of a mesmerizing actions from the villain. Next time
you watch a movie, remember it’s not the hero that drives the story, it’s the
villain.
