Everybody loves a criminal mastermind. It is so much more entertaining to watch the movie hero struggle against somebody who seems to have everything perfectly planned out. While the cinema universe is loaded with brilliant villains, I have narrowed it down to the top 5 smartest ones out there.
#5: John Kramer/Jigsaw Killer (Saw franchise)
Okay, so I have admittedly never seen any of the Saw movies (horror movies aren’t exactly my favorite movies). I have, however, read up on the intricacies of Kramer’s traps in the series. As disgusting as it is, he knows what he is doing. The Jigsaw Killer seems to take every possible scenario into account when scheming. While I will not be watching Saw any time soon, I do have to credit the creators with sculpting a brilliant movie villain.
#4: Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)
Keyser Soze is the infamous villain from The Usual Suspects who has thought of every possible cover. There are rumors that float from police precinct to precinct. We hear Kevin Spacey’s character add to the mythos and describe him. By the end of the movie, we are given a huge plot twist that shows just how conniving Soze can be.
#3: The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker was legendary. It will be a LONG time before anybody can come close to that level of acting (http://bit.ly/1OQR4Xf). It seemed like he was always one step ahead of the Gotham Police and Batman. He allows himself to be captured just to simply see his plan come together. The Joker in The Dark Knight is definitely a psychopathic genius who just wants to laugh as he watches the world burn.
#2: HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
You can’t outsmart a super computer. HAL 9000 is humanity’s worst nightmare. As an all-knowing computer program that can detect human emotions, HAL is virtually unstoppable. Tack on his monotone voice and the beautiful score of the movie and you get one of the most dangerous, intelligent movie villains. I would hate to be stuck competing against HAL 9000.
Honorable Mention:
The Emperor (Star Wars)
Auric Goldfinger (James Bond franchise)
Khan (Star Trek franchise)
Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
#1: Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs)
This guy gives everybody the chills. Anthony Hopkins gives the greatest villain performance out there. Almost every other actor of villains on this list studied Hopkins’ performance in preparation. Lecter is a brilliant psychiatrist that also happens to murder and eat people (just look how menacing he can be: http://bit.ly/1uvOxHl). When a new serial killer is on the loose, the police turn to Hannibal in desperation. He uses their desperation against them and is the ultimate sociopath and criminal mastermind.
I couldn’t imagine being matched up with any of these guys. Who do you think is the smartest movie villain?
CinemaStickler 