Monday, October 24, 2011

Complete Non Sequitur

This has nothing to do with law, politics, or philosophical thought in any way. This is about movie protagonists.

As some of you know, I enjoy really bad action movies, also other really bad movies in other genres. But, I had the time to (re)watch Man on Fire the other day. It made me wonder: who are the movie protagonists I think would be the worst to have mad at me? So, in no particular order, here are my top five.

John Creasy, Man on Fire - Rayburn (Christopher Walken) says of Creasy, "A man can be an artist at anything. Food, whatever. It depends on how good at it he is. Creasy's art is death, and he's about to paint his masterpiece." That sums it up. Do not kidnap some one a professional, ex-special forces, bodyguard cares about. Simple.

James Bond, Quantum of Solace - Of all the Bonds, Daniel Craig comes closest to how I envision the Fleming original. Resourceful, tenacious, and downright vindictive, even MI-6 can't stop him. Umm, I'll be hiding over here.


Bryan Mills,  Taken - Combine the two descriptions above, and you get Bryan Mills, minus the massive MI-6 budget. Anyone who will shoot a friend's wife to get information is not someone easily deterred.


Léon, Léon - A professional killer who takes in his orphaned neighbor; what's not to like? Teaching the kid to be just as competent as an assassin as he is... that's a little scary.


Rooster Cogburn, True Grit - John Wayne. Enough said.


Honorable mention goes out to the following: Most Marvel superheroes, Batman, and Humphrey Bogart - in anything.