Underrated main VILLAIN performances.

We all know about critically acclaimed villain performances such as dude from No country for old men, Colonel Hans Landa in Basterds, The Joker in The Dark Knight and Gene Hackman in Unforgiven...but what about those great villain performances that were overlooked by the academy and by critics at large, possibly because of the types of films that they were in?

One that springs to mind....Tim Hiddleston as Loki! EXCELLENT performances in Thor, Avengers AND Thor 2. Very underrated.

Agent Smith in The Matrix.

What others can you name?

 

Belloque from Raiders of the lost Ark. One of my all time favourite villains.

 

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler: He shoulda won for Best Actor last year, IMO. And wasn't even fuckin NOMINATED for Best Actor. Complete joke, and one of the worst omissions ever in Hollywood.

Christopher Walken in Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead.

Gene Hackman in The Quick and The Dead

Michael Beihn in Tombstone.

Christoph Waltz in Water For Elephants

Alec Baldwin in The Juror

 

Kathy Bates won the academy award for her role in Misery....so you can't call it underrated.

 

Yeah, I dunno where that came from.

Kathy Bates in Misery is probably THE most infamous female villain of all time. Definitely not underrated.

 

This one might sound ridiculous, and even a bit childish, but fuck it.... Jeremy Irons as Scar.

Far and away THE best and most infamous villain in animated movie history. He was pretty ruthless, even by regular movie standards, and Iron's acting deserves the credit.

 

It's cause she's a woman. Great women performances NEVER get as much attention as a man's.

But when people mention female villains, I feel like Bates in Misery is always the first mentioned.

 

Best Cartoon villain in history for my money!

 

By a light year. Over 20 years since The Lion King, and there's never been an animated villain anywhere near Scar.

 

Jafar better than Scar??????? You gotta be joking.

Jafar is the 2nd best though.

 

You gotta understand this about Scar... killing your own brother in front of his son is cold even by REGULAR movie standards, let alone an animated/kids movie. That was the first purely EVIL act in Disney history, and wouldn't have been executed as well if it wasn't an actor like Irons.

 

Both good villains to be sure...but Scar was badass!

"Don't turn your back on me Scar" -Mufasa
"No Mufasa....perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me" - Scar

 

"Long live the king"

Badass!

 

Scar was really the first and only animated villain who was a true sociopath. Disney really pushed the envelope with him... he wasn't just evil by a kid's movie standards. He was evil by any movie standards, and you just don't see that in kids movies.

 

I agree. His killing of Mufasa is by far the most evil thing I've seen in a kids film.

 

Then as soon as he tells Simba to run away, he coldly tells the Hyenas.. "Kill him"

You just don't see cartoon villains like that anymore.

 

Michael Wincott in The Crow/anything.

 

i have to say....after all this talk i may have to watch Lion King again soon. Love that film.

"Step down Scar"
"Well I would, of course...however there's a problem, you see them? They think I'm King"
"Well we don't, Simba is the rightful king"
"Your choice Scar, either step down or fight!"

You just don't get dialogue like that in other animated children's films.

Actually Xplosive, there is an animated film character that rival's Scar for sheer villainy: Jenner from The Secret of Nimh (my second favourite animated film of all time). That was one badass evil rat!

 

I don't remember Jafar being as evil as Scar. Jafar had a lot of charisma as villain, that's why he ranks highly.

Cruella you have a point with.

 

My point with Scar is you wouldn't be able to take him as seriously as a villain without Irons playing him.

 

Anyway, continuing with underrated villains:

Tim Robbins in Arlington Road

 

Ok, if we're talking "Under-rated villain" and Disney movies, I feel like nobody has seen "Hunchback Of Notre Dame". Frollo was a psychotic Catholic priest who brainwashed and beat a disabled boy while holding him captive for years, summoned demons from his fireplace, had random civilians executed for being "poor". He also kidnapped and tried to rape a young girl he was infatuated with, eventually attempting to burn her at the stake as a witch when he was rebuffed.

 

Han in Enter the Dragon.

 

He ranks right up there with Scar in terms of evilness. Simply lacked the charisma of Jafar. Jafar wasn't THAT fuckin evil. I mean, even Gaston in Beauty And The Beast was more evil than Jafar.