Top Movie Villains

Oscar whispers are booming. And for what painfully earnest intellectuals might consider an unlikely source – a superhero franchise with a horrific villain. Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight is a hellaciously divine performance. He enunciates each syllable with taunting clarity. When he licks his lips in anticipation of foul play, his tongue moves with a venomous reptile’s precision. He prefers knives to guns because blades allow him more time to “savor the moment.”

Earlier this year, both Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem won Oscars for playing vile characters. And that’s just the beginning of our Despicable Villains list.

Daniel Day-Lewis’ edgy performance in There Will Be Blood proves that money is the root of all evil. His character’s pursuit of the dollar led him to parental wrongdoing and eventual murder. The only good thing you could say about the guy is that he was less bloodthirsty than the gangland butcher of Gangs of New York. 

Javier Bardem’s No Country for Old Men hitman was definitely lacking in human values, and Bardem gave a fearless performance. You’ll never again be able to toss a coin in a carefree manner. 

Anthony Perkins almost sabotaged his career by being so eerily effective as Psycho’s Norman Bates. It was hard to watch him in another role without thinking about Norman. Never trust a mamma’s boy. And never trust a mamma’s boy’s mamma, especially if they’re one and the same.

Speaking of mamma’s boys, James Cagney in White Heat was more volcanic if less eerie than Norman. Still, the scene of Cagney sitting on his mother’s lap was definitely on the eerie side. In the explosive final scene, when he yelled, “Top ‘o the world, Ma!,” you knew it came from his cold, cold heart.

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