2020 was certainly a strange year for movies. While there were many high-profile projects on the release calendar, COVID-19 delayed most of them until 2021. Yet there were still plenty of great films that fans were able to enjoy throughout the year.
One area where the movies of 2020 seemed to do particularly well was with their cinematic villains. There were some truly terrifying and entertaining bad guys to enjoy. Even if the movie wasn't great, these villains at least offered a bright spot and gave audiences someone to hate. Have a look back at the best of the worst with 2020's great cinematic villains.
10 Rev. Preston Teagardin - The Devil All The Time
The Netflix gothic crime story The Devil All the Time was certainly a dark tale filled with horrible people, but Rev. Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson) stood out among all the evil-doers. From his first scene, Preston proves himself to be a meanspirited and pompous jerk, but he gets much worse.
As the reverend of a small rural town, Preston takes advantage of his position of power, preying on the most vulnerable of his followers. He is a sick and twisted man who uses his religion as a way to escape his misdeeds.
9 Barbara Minerva/Cheetah - Wonder Woman 1984
While many fans were eagerly anticipating Wonder Woman 1984, the movie was ultimately met with a very mixed reaction from critics and audiences. However, it did manage to deliver a couple of noteworthy villains, one of which was Cheetah (Kristen Wiig).
The character is introduced as Barbara Minerva, the timid and overlooked colleague of Diana Prince. After using the magic Dreamstone to wish she was more like Diana, she gains superpowers and proves herself to be a match for the Amazonian warrior. The character even gets to undergo her full comic book transformation, becoming the monstrous Cheetah in the climax.
8 Merrick - The Old Guard
Harry Melling might not be a household name but the actor had a tremendous year with roles in The Devil All the Time, The Queen's Gambit, and a wonderfully slimy role in the Netflix action movie The Old Guard.
Melling played Merrick, a young tech guru who plans to make a fortune experimenting on the immortal warriors and discovering their secret of defying death. Melling turns a typical corporate villain into an entertaining foe whom the entire audience will absolutely hate.
7 Athena - The Hunt
Though met with a ton of controversy before it was even released, The Hunt turned out to be a pretty inoffensive yet entertaining horror-comedy. The story follows a group of right-wing people being hunted by left-wing killers in an event organized by the mysterious Athena (Hilary Swank).
The satire pokes fun at every side of the fight and the Athena character is no different. She is an intimidating and determined force of nature who feels she is the victim. However, when it is all over, Athena is as short-sighted as the rest of them.
6 Dr. Robotnik - Sonic The Hedgehog
In a surprising development, Sonic the Hedgehog might have been the first successful video game movie. Though not a masterpiece, fans and critics seemed to find enough charm in the story of the super-fast hedgehog.
One element that everyone seemed to think improved the movie was Jim Carrey's performance as the villainous Dr. Robotnik. As one can imagine, Carrey fully commits to the role, giving a hilarious and wild performance that was the highlight of the family-friendly adventure.
5 Maxwell Lord - Wonder Woman 1984
Though many people thought Cheetah would be the main villain in Wonder Woman 1984, it turns out that Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) was the bigger role. In fact, Lord almost seems like the main character of the story as he is front and center for most of it.
Though there are some strange choices with the story and some major logic gaps with his plan, Pascal made Lord an entertaining, interesting, and complex villain who improved the movie.
4 The Man - Unhinged
One of the few movies to hit theaters in the latter half of 2020 was the thriller Unhinged. Russell Crowe stars in the movie as an unnamed man who, following a small bout of road rage, decides to target a woman and make her pay for her momentary rudeness.
Though Unhinged is little more than a B-movie, Crowe does make for an effective threat. He resembles a massive grizzly bear as he grows more brutal with his vengeful actions.
3 Roman Sionis/Black Mask - Birds Of Prey
Though it was not a box office hit, Birds of Prey was one of the DCEU's most acclaimed movies to date and gave fans another glimpse at Margot Robbie's wonderful performance as Harley Quinn. But another character who really stood out was the villain, Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor).
Roman is a self-centered and temperamental gangster who can be both hilarious and terrifying from scene to scene. One memorable moment in which he is choosing to skin his victim or show mercy is a good example of the character's darkly comedic style.
2 Andrei Sator - Tenet
Christopher Nolan's Tenet was one of the most anticipated movies of the year and probably the biggest movie to hit theaters in 2020. While its theatrical run wasn't the success Nolan was hoping for, it was still a thrilling big-screen experience.
The mind-bending movie follows the plot to stop a Russian arms dealer named Sator (Kenneth Branagh) from unleashing a weapon from the future. Sator is appropriately detestable with his cruel treatment of his wife and his self-centered desire to destroy everything. He is the perfect antagonist for this wild spy story.
1 Adrian Griffin – The Invisible Man
The team at Blumhouse continues to show their talent for making exciting and unique horror movies with this remake of The Invisible Man. Elizabeth Moss stars as Cecilia, a woman who escapes her abusive boyfriend only to suspect he is stalking her and ruining her life while remaining invisible.
Adrian, the titular invisible man, is a terrifying villain even without appearing on-screen for most of the movie. There is a feeling that he may be lurking in every scene and the paranoia of what he might do next takes the audience on the same emotional roller coaster as Cecilia.
source https://screenrant.com/2020-movie-antagonists-viewers-loved-hate/
0 comments: