All-time 10 'best' supervillains

Last week we picked the best superheroes of stage and screen, so this week it's the bad guys' turn.

Unfortunately, it would almost be easier to pick the worst supervillains of movies and television, instead of the best. From Arnold Schwarzenegger's punny Mr. Freeze ("Batman & Robin") to Jim Carrey's homoerotic Riddler ("Batman Forever") to the camp turns of Robert Vaughn and Richard Pryor ("Superman III"), it seems one thing Hollywood can't get right is a good bad guy.

But, occasionally, we get something good to hiss. Here are my Top 10 Supervillains on Screen:

10. Frank "Riddler" Gorshin: On the '60s "Batman" TV show, the villains were supposed to be campy and nonthreatening -- but nobody told Mr. Gorshin. His maniacal Prince of Puzzlers loved being bad, giggling in an unsettling manner all the while. One wonders why he wasn't cast as The Joker instead of the uninterested Cesar Romero, who wouldn't even shave off his mustache for the role (it was covered in white makeup). And speaking of the Clown Prince of Crime:

9. Jack "Joker" Nicholson: OK, he was a little over the top in 1989's "Batman" -- but what do you expect? It's Nicholson! Despite occasionally descending into shtick, Nicholson always brought a sense of "Heeere's Johnny!" menace.

8. Julie "Catwoman" Newmar: Slinky, sexy and seductive, Newmar was another highlight of the "Batman" TV show. Ironically, she's also on the "Best Superheroes" list, because with the Feline Fatale, you just never know which way she's going to jump.

7. Colin "Bullseye" Farrell: This Aussie actor was downright scary in 2003's "Daredevil" as the man with infallible aim and no moral compunctions whatsoever. And he just LOOKS crazy.

6. Willem "Green Goblin" Dafoe: Speaking of crazy, Dafoe's turn in "Spider-Man" was convincing in its inspired Jekyll/Hyde insanity -- plus, his desperate, alpha-male-on-the-skids Norman Osborn was occasionally sympathetic. Further, I've never seen a more brutal beat- down of a superhero than the one the Goblin laid on Spidey. Too bad that clunky costume covered Dafoe's whole face -- which is often scary all by itself.

5. Mark "Trickster" Hamill: Known best as the heroic Luke Skywalker in the first "Star Wars" trilogy, Hamill turns out to be a pretty good villain (he was also the voice of The Joker on "Batman: The Animated Series"). In the short-lived "Flash" TV show, Hamill turned one of the minor members of the Scarlet Speedster's rogues gallery into a memorable mountebank.

4. Rebecca "Mystique" Romijn-Stamos: Who knew a supermodel could act? Although just a henchman in "X-Men," Romijn-Stamos brought bitter pathos to her role as an alienated mutant with an ax to grind ("It's people like you who made people like me afraid to go to school."). And, of course, it's hard to forget a supermodel wearing nothing but blue body paint and a smile.

3. Ian "Magneto" McKellen: Erik Lensherr is one of the comics' greatest villains, primarily because he doesn't think of himself as a villain -- he thinks he's acting nobly in defense of his people against blind bigotry. McKellen brought every ounce of that smug self- justification to the screen, and occasionally convinced you that maybe, just maybe, he was really the hero.

2. Michael "Lex Luthor" Rosenbaum: Sure, we know that Luthor is destined to become Superman's archenemy. But watching Rosenbaum and Tom "Clark Kent" Welling together in TV's "Smallville," that future remains obstinately oblique. Rosenbaum brings a lot of shaded nuance to Lex, and it's really hard to figure out what's going on behind those inscrutable eyes. Friend or foe? Rosenbaum keeps you guessing.

1. Alfred "Dr. Octopus" Molina: Attention, Hollywood writers: This is how to do a supervillain right. In "Spider-Man 2," we were given a generous amount of time with the pre-homicidal Dr. Octavius, where we saw his pride in his work, his love for his wife, his camaraderie with Peter Parker and many other sterling qualities -- which made Otto's descent into madness all the more poignant and heart- wrenching. Molina tackled the role with mannered zest, fully fleshing out the character into three dimensions (and six arms). He was so captivating a character, in fact, that we still sympathized with him even when he was trying to murder our pal Parker, and forgot that the arms he was talking to were just puppets.

Which is what makes a good bad guy to this reviewer.

(Contact Andrew Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at [email protected] or visit www.captaincomics.us.)

Copyright C 2004 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.