A story is greatly improved by having a big baddie that's intimidating, mysterious, cruel and frighteningly determined...some or all of these qualities NEED to be part of the villain's character to make a good story work
Consider Inglorious Basterds...Instead of being an evil, murderous monster excited by his work Hans Landa is a pudgy low level Nazi Party functionary too lazy to be bothered
He sees Shosanna flee across the field in the opening act, shrugs and thinks 'Meh, I'll just head off to Paris to eat fancy French Food and flirt with Fancy French babes...'
That does not work
Let's chat about villains so perfectly written and performed that they were way more watchable than the hero
Kingsley was amazing in Sexy Beast (he played Ghandi yet some crazy casting director thought it was a good idea to have him play a total maniac?!?)
The man nailed the role...how he pulled it off is a mystery to me, he honestly appears too sweet and reasonable but damn...Acting!
Excellent movie
I have to catch In Bruges, it's not streaming here at the moment but I'm in when it pops up
He's played some good villains over the years. Also some not so good ones. Sexy Beast though was I think his best. I liked him in Sneakers as well, but I liked everyone in that movie.
There is something very sad about a character who has a backstory which brings no sympathy to themselves due to their self-absorbed attitude.
It's almost scary thinking about what his unbalanced mental state must have been like during his coming-of-age years, all that pent-up rage and frustration, and all because of an unhealthy fixation on wanting to be the best.
We see from his tech empire that he was successful at building gadgets and could have lived a fulfilling life but threw it all away on ill-conceived revenge, making himself out to be the victim despite what he has done.
He is a bit terrifying, not someone you would ever feel comfortable around. Not sure what Mirage ever saw in him. What i can't understand though is why he couldn't invent a machine or a serum or something to give him actual powers, i don't think it would've been impossible for him.
I don't think he wanted to be an actual superhero anymore, only as a fake image to sell his tech to everyone to undermine the very thing he once idolized in his youth, Mr. Incredible.
Guess he could've still sold his inventions in the end but i see your point. Real powers would technically have made him into the same thing he had learned to hate.
Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars prequels! That old queen OWNS this thread! Clever, duplicitous, charismatic, funny, surprising, charming... everything that the heroes and heroine were not. He was deliciously watchable, the best thing about the three movies.
He was the best thing about the prequels. The worst thing about the prequels is they managed to make Darth Vader LESS interesting than he had been in the original films.
It's always a bad sign when there has to be an entire expanded universe (Legends and Canon) to explain and fill in the behind the scenes gaps to give more context to events and situations to what were shown in the films.
The lore is full of rich storytelling and world-building though - something that is harder for the Star Trek universe to pull off.
The Emperor could have performed a wicked rap ballad, throwing around delicious word salads edged with his sharp wit to deliver a humor so wry, it would have caused Obi-Wan to blush and we would have all loved it!
You're absolutely right! The prequels would have been infinitely better if they'd cut all the love scenes, and given Palpatine some musical numbers instead!
Not rap, though. Sondheim-esque show tunes with subtly clever lyrics would suit him better.
What about a cover of "Grease Lightning" by Emperor Palpatine called "Force Lighting" with soldiers from the 501st Stormtrooper legion (Vader's Fist) and subordinates of his personal Royal Red Guard detachment providing back-up vocals and dance choreography?
Darth Sidious: Alas, if only I never encountered Mace "Monday thru Friday to the face" Windu and his wretched woe he plagued my once impeccable singing voice. Now it sounds like a toad getting electrocuted while mating with Jar Jar Binks. What if...
[Sidious appears, ready to belt out a song. Cue music in imperial hangar bay.]
Why this Death Star problematic
It's thermodynamic
It's orbic
Why it's force lightning (force lighting)
We'll get some power converters and get some force sensitive locks
oh yeah
(keep laughing, whoa keep laughing)
A fear-led deadline and terror imposed labor behind, oh yeah
(I'll get the credits, I'll kill to get the credits)
Wookies dying on the floor, our building secrets will be secured
It no it ain't only an order, the dark side of the Force gives a cold shoulder
In Force Lighting
Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!
I am supreme. I'm Emperor Palpatine, by battle station superweapon laser beam
Everyone will scream for mercy!
[Sidious activates force lighting, levitating himself off the ground in menacing display]
Lightning, lightning, lightning
Lightning, lightning, lightning
Lightning yeah
If they'd cut out the scene of Anakin and Padme romping in the meadow and put that in instead, the prequels would be considered among the greatest films of all times.