Hello Readers! Clevenger here!

So we’re delving into our thoughts on villains. This opening post, our favorite on screen villains. I’ve alays loved villains. They are often my favorite part of a story, and in movies often have the best look, presence, and actors. When walking in, I judge a movie on the villain. I want to love them.

So, I have a few contenders that have made the run over the years, and this is a complex and formulated thought process that requires… Nope. I can’t keep up that charade. It’s been Darth Vader for years. Yes, you heard me. It’s the SAME as Graham’s! And I’m not going to pretend it isn’t.

Darth Vader has fascinated me for years. Decades. A presence that just fills my head with wonder. When he first appeared in “A New Hope” standing there on screen, his black cape flowing behind him, starkly contrasting the white walls behind him, I was entranced. Then he spoke, the deep, modulated voice (James Earl Jones) punctuated by the sound of his breathing to add menace and power, chills.

Over the years, more and more has been drawn up around Darth Vader. Movies, cartoons, comics, and novels (which I am purposely not talking about in this post) and more. Every time he comes on screen, I feel the same way I did when he was introduced, awestruck.

Two such moments that spring to mind are with the newer “expanded” content of Star Wars. SPOILERS: Going to see “Rogue One” with Graham, when the hall went black, the alarms blaring, smoke and fire the only break in the landscape, and suddenly the ignition of a gleaming red lightsaber, and the breathing of Vader. The moment was electric. I’ve referred to it as the “best 30 seconds of film.”

The second moment is from the “Obi Wan” series, and the spectacle fight between Vader and Obi Wan. Seeing Anakin’s face under the cracked mask, his eyes aglow. The pain and rage were clear, and it was like witnessing the “true” birth of Vader for the first time. I was in heaven.

There are so many reasons I think Vader works. For these reasons, I find it incredible that a villain that received just about 8 minutes of screen time in his first appearance on film is still an icon 35 years later. We’ll be talking about “what makes a villain work” later this week, so I won’t go into those reasons now.

There are (as Graham said) a great deal of villains that are amazing on screen, many of whom demand honorable mentions. One such villain is the “Joker” from the Batman franchise. Particularly, Heath Ledger’s portrayal in 2008’s “The Dark Knight.” The look, the clothes, the mannerisms, and voice inflections were utterly perfect for me. I loved him, and I loved that character.

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor and Terrance Stamp as General Zod in the Richard Donner “Superman” movies (1978 & 1980) were amazing for the time and style of those films. Both had immense presence that filled the screen and gave true threats to a nearly invulnerable hero.

Norman Bates gave me chills in Psycho, and I like both the OG (1960 Anthony Perkins) and the remake (1998 Vince Vaughn) versions for different reasons. Patrick Bateman (Christine Bale) from American Psycho, Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins), and Raymond Redington (James Spader) are all great schemers and plotters that keep me guessing the entire story. Also, Spader in them suits… damn, the man looks good.

A powerhouse like Darth Maul (Ray Park), who got a MUCH greater story in other media than the movie he was introduced in, certainly knocked on the door of greatness. He had the look, he had the gear, but not enough to overthrow Vader. I remember thinking as a kid “How cool would a double-bladed lightsaber be?” and nearly came out of my chair in 1999 when the trailer for “Phantom Menace” dropped, and I saw Maul cartwheel across the screen. I’d LOVE to see a Darth Bane movie hit the screens, and what that character could look like.

Villains can run the gamut from schemers, to sociopathic, to powerful and complex. I’ll even go into the last notable villain that I didn’t speak of, Emperor Palpatine, in a following post… so don’t think I forgot about him.

You see, I could sit here and talk about Villains forever. I love them so much. But I’m going to sign off now, and we’ll break down more next time.

Until then…

Be Kind

-Clevenger