Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters
This upcoming Friday is my 16th birthday, so all this week I’m going to be doing a lot of favorite lists. We are starting it off with favorite movie characters.
Honorable Mentions:
Marty McFly and Doc. Brown
Thanos
Han Solo
Ferris Buller
Captain Jack Sparrow
10. Woody and Buzz Lightyear: Now, I know that is two characters, but I can’t decide which character is better. They are one of my favorite movie duos of all time. They started hating each other in the first Toy Story, then as you move to Toy Story 4 their ending feels earned. Also Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are so good and can tell that they have fun playing these characters. So Woody and Buzz are my two favorite Pixar characters, which is saying a lot because Pixar makes great characters. So without question these characters had to make the list.
9. Luke Skywalker: This character is the example of a hero’s journey. In A New Hope he’s a farm boy who is bored and living with his aunt and uncle. The Empire Strikes Back his Jedi training is starting and you see the hero inside of him start. Then you move onto Return of the Jedi where his journey comes to an end and he is the hero of the galaxy. And I liked getting to see where Luke was in the Last Jedi. It's a different version of the character that we haven’t seen before. So, he is one of my favorite Star Wars characters.
8. John McClane: A movie character that I got introduced to this year during the pandemic. This is the role that made Bruce Willis this A-list star through-out the 80s and 90s. And Willis can be the action hero, but he can also be the fun guy in the action as well. And I liked that in each movie we got to see a different side of his character; the action hero, the husband, the cop, and the father. So his character gets a lot of perspectives that I don’t think a lot of people talk about. So with the performance and the characteristic of the character you get a fantastic character.
7. Harry Potter: “Harry Potter our new celebrity”, Severus Snape (the Sorceror’s Stone). This is another example of the hero’s journey. In the first movie he is this kid who is told he is going to be a hero, but doesn’t believe in himself. And with the other six movies he grows to be the hero, and the journey pays off in the eighth movie, that is a great story telling. Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione is another stand-out for the character where they grow as friends. In the first movie Harry and Ron do not get along with Hermione at all, but by the Deathly Hallows Part 2 there story comes to an end in such a satisfying way. I’m currently reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and I would love to see a movie based on that book and get to see where Harry is at in life.
6. Tony Stark/Iron Man: The face of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gets a character arc, where the character that we see in the first Iron Man is not the same as the character that we see in Avengers Endgame. And part of the reason why I love this character so much is because of Robert Downey Jr., looking back now it is near impossible to imagine anyone else playing this character besides RDJ, he makes everyone in a scene better. Both of his “I am Iron Man” lines and scenes that I love are some of my favorite moments in Iron Man and Avengers Endgame. Put the pieces together you get a great character arc, performance, and moments of all time. So I love Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.
5. Bruce Wayne/Batman: Now, when I say Batman I mean Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, and Kevin Conroy. Christian Bale being my favorite Batman that can capture both the business man with Bruce Wayne and the fighter and “the dark knight” with Batman. But each of the other actors did something unique and special that made them different from another version of the character. And the first performance of Batman was by Lewis G. Wilson all the way back in 1943, and 77 years later they are still casting actors to be Batman and still making movies. And so truly, Batman is one of the pop culture icons that has been around for a long time.
4. Darth Vader: One of the most iconic movie villains of all time, and my personal favorite Star Wars character. This is a character that went through a lot during the original Star Wars trilogy. Where he was just the villain in A New Hope, then in Empire Strikes Back we found out that he is the father of Luke so add some dimensions to his character. In Return of the Jedi he sacrifices himself to save Luke from the Emperor. That is a character arc that fits and works in the trilogy. And even one of my favorite Star Wars moments is that Darth Vader sequence at the end of Rogue One where you just see Darth Vader destroying those troops. And he is one of my top 3 favorite movie villains of all time
3. Dr. Hannibal Lecter: Like John McClane, a character that I got introduced to this year. And Hannibal Lecter is one of the creepiest characters I have ever seen. Anthony Hopkins gave one of my all time favorite movie performances. Hopkins disappears and all you see is Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He is only in the movie for 16 minutes but he sticks with you so much that you want to see more of him. Now, I haven’t seen the sequels but just based on Silence of the Lambs his performances and the character that is on the screen is fantastic. And a creepy element to the character is the Lecter never blinks when he is talking.
2. Joker: Just like Batman, when I say Joker I mean multiple actors. Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Hamill. I go back and forth on whether I like Ledger or Phoenix more because both of them are fantastic. But like the Batman actors each version is different. Ledger is this force of chaos for Batman and Gotham City, Phoenix plays the character where he doesn’t feel like a version of the Joker. Nicholson is the most comic accurate version of the character who is having so much fun in the role, and Hamill plays an animated version of the character. But also with Jared Leto they did something different with the character and I enjoyed Leto in the role. So with the different versions of the character you get a whole lot of fantastic characters.
1. Steve Rogers/Captain America: What a character arc Steve Rogers went through over the cross of 8 years. In the First Avenger he is the skinny kid who just wants to do good in the world, and when we move to Endgame he’s the full Captain America with some epic moments. When you go to Avengers Endgame and I was to give you my top 10 favorite moments from that movie, Captain America is involved with about 7 of those 10 moments. Another great part of the character is Chris Evans who is so believable and can be this epic character, and you buy him just as much as Steve Rogers as you do when he is Captain America. So I have a hard time imagining any character topping Captain America.
That is my list, what are some of your favorite movie characters of all time? Also, since my birthday is this week I’m going to be doing a whole lot of favorite lists.
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