It’s time to dip into the first of our three movie lists, and with that comes somewhat of a return to regular service as far as standout celluloid characters are concerned. After the class of 2022 brought an unusually high percentage of protagonists to the table, 2023’s roll is once again all about those dastardly villains and spicy supporting characters.
Although we aren’t in full-on spoiler territory yet, sometimes talking about what makes characters so impactful necessitates a mild plot detail or two, so keep an eye out for that if you see a movie title you would still rather watch first.
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VR BEST OF 2023 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you agree with me 100%, go buy a lottery ticket. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.
Some spoilers may follow.
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10. Joyce – A Haunting in Venice
A Haunting in Venice is an ensemble murder mystery, so Joyce doesn’t have as much screen time as the trailers may lead you to believe, but I don’t blame the film’s marketing team for wanting to push Michelle Yeoh’s presence hard after the stellar couple of years she’s had. It’s also completely justified in the movie itself, as her creepy charisma as Joyce reverberates through every scene in which she holds the frame. Joyce’s is-she-conning-us / is-she-for-real commitment essentially transitions another standard Hercule Poirot mystery into the first full-on horror story of Kenneth Brannagh’s 21st century run with the character – and it absolutely elevates the movie – but it’s the wry smiles and flowery undercurrent of disdain in her dialogue that gets Joyce onto the list to kick us off.
9. Bowser – The Super Mario Bros Movie
A modern take on a Super Mario Bros movie was probably always going to lean comedic for as many side characters as it could get away with, but Nintendo’s own games – particularly their Mario-centric RPGs – have already poked a whole mountain range of fun at the absurdity of Bowser enough times that some fans worried Illumination’s perspective on the classic villain may come off a bit tired. But then the film cast Jack Black, and those concerns went away immediately. The movie well and truly lives up to the potential of a Bowser/Black pairing and then some, as the hammy specialist commits to the role wholeheartedly; if anything, the biggest surprise is how menacing he makes Bowser sound at the right times.
8. Dante – Fast X
As the Fast & Furious franchise I finally fell in love with during lockdown begins to stray away from some of its strengths, Jason Momoa’s utterly ridiculous performance as the maniacal Dante just about saves Fast X from its own almost-Fast & Furious (that’s the fourth one) level of grim self-importance. Sure, he has the sort-of-tragic backstory you expect from a modern blockbuster, but Momoa is so determined to have fun with the idea of a flamboyant psychopath that he renders it almost completely irrelevant. Dante is easy to hate, and he does enough despicable things through the story that he might actually be the first Fast villain to stay a villain until the end, but he’s also so enjoyable to watch that you’d probably be OK seeing him on the team anyway. We’ll find out in the next movie I guess, but either way, he understands what franchise he’s in and Fast X is all the better for it.
7. The High Evolutionary – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3
Onto a villain without any need for a tragic backstory – the first in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a good long while – and boy does he make an impression. James Gunn’s farewell to the MCU does not seem to care for too many modern Marvel checkboxes, and his choice to pit the Guardians of the Galaxy against an old-fashioned metaphorical moustache-twirler, British accent and everything, pays off in spades as Chukwudi Iwuji brings the heat (and volume) to the despicable skin-masked High Evolutionary. It turns out one of the oldest writing tricks in the book still works wonders: if you want your villain to elicit any sympathy from your audience, don’t have them kick the cat – or in this case, shoot the otter.
6. Grace – Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I
She may arrive in the MI franchise under a context with unfortunate implications, but Grace arrives nonetheless as a whirlwind of piercing charisma, deceptive athleticism and sheer star potential – all of which make her a perfect fit for this franchise. Also, this might sound odd to say, but her wardrobe is fantastic: that sharp-collared vampire fencer look in the Venice night scenes might be my favourite costume of the year. Hayley Atwell has always had a kind of tentpole-movie presence about her, but her roles haven’t quite lived up to that presence just yet; here’s hoping she’s at last onto bigger things in the future.
5. Strauss – Oppenheimer
Kudos to the comparative restraint shown in major movie trailers nowadays: if Oppenheimer had released even just a few years ago, the treat that is Robert Downey Jr’s massive award-worthy performance as professional grudge-holder Lewis Strauss would almost certainly have been spoiled somewhat. There is just one shot of the guy in the entirety of the film’s main trailer, but in the movie itself he is essentially the second protagonist, and the main reason Christopher Nolan helped invent a brand-new black and white IMAX camera. You’d better believe he’s worth it too, as Downey’s natural charisma helps to hide just enough of the ugliness festering inside Strauss’ envious heart that you doubt his intentions despite all the subtle tells in his body language.
4. Molly – Killers of the Flower Moon
Imagine acting opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, both in top form and the latter returning to a performance level not seen since the 1990s, and yet you still outshine both of them. Just imagine. Yet that’s exactly what Lily Gladstone manages to achieve as Molly Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon. A mid-production decision to shift the focus – and the casting – of the film around helps her out substantially, but I can’t recall a more reserved character without villainous intent in recent years who owns as many scenes as Molly does. There’s a measured confidence to her early scenes and a simmering fury to her latter ones that ensure whatever your take on Flower Moon‘s ultimate perspective, you’re going to remember her.
3. Spider-Punk – Across the Spider-Verse
The fastest lock of the year onto this list and it wasn’t even close. To reveal what makes Spider-Punk a.k.a Hobie Brown such an instant favourite among the Spider-Verse saga’s growing fanbase would constitute by far the biggest spoiler on this page, so I won’t go into it, but suffice to say he’s a charismatic lad brought to life by a deliberate mish-mash of competing art styles all sharing one character model. The cherry on top is a warmly anti-establishment vocal spin by Daniel Kaluuya in full native London mode.
2. Caine – John Wick Chapter 4
The incomparable Donny Yen has a long and storied martial arts filmography behind him, but to modern western audiences he is probably most known for a certain odd quirk: Yen has now played two blind close-combat specialists in two massive action franchises. But unlike his dour role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Yen’s turn as Caine in the climactic act of the John Wick saga is an absolute riot. He plays the formidable ally-turned-foe-turned-ally as endearingly naive, almost pathetic, in his quiet dialogue scenes but almost cartoonishly cocky in his fights, and the contrast is a blast to watch for the length of the whole film. I certainly won’t forget that introductory one-man-army sequence in the hotel kitchen for a long time.
1. Ken – Barbie
There’s a moment in Barbie when Helen Mirren’s Narrator interjects in the middle of a pivotal scene for one of the movie’s many fourth-wall breaks, pointing out that Margot Robbie is a terrible choice for a role you want to make appear physically unattractive. But by the same token, if you don’t want your main character to be upstaged, you don’t cast Ryan Gosling as Ken.
Gosling is a tremendously talented actor whose considerable comedic side has come to the fore in a big way over the last several years, but I have never laughed this much at one of his performances; I was physically doubled over in my theatre seat at multiple points during the film after just a simple reaction shot or two. Literally everything Gosling does as Ken both before and after the character’s villainous turn is hilarious, whether he’s leading a dance number, skewering Matchbox Twenty fandom, delivering isolated lines in a crowded scene, or pining weakly from a distance. I simply must see more of him.
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Honorable Mentions
–Kamala – The Marvels
Kinda feels like a cheat, because Iman Vellani already had six TV episodes as a protagonist to endear audiences to her wonderfully magnetic take on Kamala Khan, but she still steals The Marvels despite a far weaker power set than her two co-leads. Give her a solo movie already, you cowards!
–Sarah – Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre
Guy Ritchie’s latest crime romp is almost entirely dependent on its characters – and their fiery banter – to carry an otherwise weak story, but the real fun doesn’t show up until Aubrey Plaza does.
–Jim Balsillie – BlackBerry
Who knew Dennis from Always Sunny could carry a serious role, let alone a belligerent narcissist of a corporate boss? OK, maybe that last part does check out, but still, Glenn Howerton absolutely carries this movie. The litmus test comes when he shares a 20-second scene with Sungwon Cho and everything still feels perfectly believable.
–The Expert – The Killer
She’s in maybe three scenes, but Tilda Swinton’s loquacious turn as a vaguely amoral, philosophising killer with a taste for the finer things overshadows every other secondary character in a film that desperately needs its secondary characters.
–Alphie – The Creator
Newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles is quietly brilliant in the android role at the beating heart of The Creator; even if you could easily argue that said role necessitates simplistic dialogue delivery and therefore child actors get a free pass, when real emotion is required she nails it – she’s the sole reason that final shot belongs on an all-time list.
Vagrant Rant 