He is listed here as 3rd in the row along with the likes of Ozymandias and Loki.
http://www.spectalist.com/best-comic-movie-supervillain/
What do you think?
Even in the face of Armageddon, I will not compromise in this
What do you think?
You're better off reading Watchmen if you're ranking villains. Comic Ozymandias is one of the all time great characters while movie Oz is a stock Bond villain.
(Since this list already spoiled the story by naming Oz as the villain, I'll elaborate a little...)
In the book the Ozy twist is truly a surprise. He comes off as jovial, friendly and genuine is his motivation to help his fellow man. He spent his spare time taking on corporations and doing pay per view specials for charity. He seems happy to see the other heroes when they come to visit him in the book.
That very charisma is what makes his villain turn so chilling. His logic is such that I actually agree with him (which is not the intent Moore had in mind when he wrote him, I assure you) in the context of the story. His love of humanity combined with his megalomania forced him to action. He simply took it upon himself to decide the fate of humanity.
In the end, he comes off as the ultimate sociopath, having completely dissociated himself from the very humanity he believes he's protecting (brilliantly illustrated in his speech about how and why he went about enacting his plan-- he speaks of taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, and another step back, etc.-- which serves as a metaphor for his continuing detachment from humanity-- Moore truly is a genius at times). Again, I think he made the right call in the context of the story, but he does sacrifice millions to potentially save billions.
Anyway, movie Oz as I mentioned earlier is cold and stiff from his first scene; you'd assume he was the villain just by looking at production stills. He's an archetype Bond villain the entire time and there's no twist to the story at all, because he was always a prick.
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the movie more than most people despite its absolute butchering of Oz's character (who again is one of my all time favorite comic book characters). It's worth watching for the other characters; Rorschach, Comedian and Dr. Manhattan in particular.
The future is in the hands of a man who has none.(As in no future, as opposed to no hands.)
Thanks for the info. Your description of book Ozymandias puts me in mind of a recent discussion elsewhere about heroes vs anti-heroes vs villains, and where the lines are, if any.
One of my favorite TV shows currently is The Man in the High Castle. Once you look past the simplistic shock value of "Oooh!! Nazis in suburbia!" it turns out to be a moody morality play where the heroes and good guys keep trying to do noble things but end up wrecking innocent lives, and the bad guys are unflinchingly brutal and nasty but draw you into their stories in part because of how they deal with being squeezed by the same totalitarian system that is crushing everyone else, and at the top of the food chain there are people who really see themselves as making the world a better place as they feed the killing machine.
It's definitely a recurring theme across many stories that the greater (larger, more expansive) good a character is trying accomplish the more evil he becomes.
The Man in the High Castle is great. I was very excited when I heard it was being made into a series and so far it hasn't disappointed. You're dead on about the shock value aspect, I almost feel like it's been marketed poorly, focusing on Nazi iconography in the US instead of the actual story itself. I guess it's not surprising they would go that route, I just hope people realize how solid the storytelling is.
The future is in the hands of a man who has none.(As in no future, as opposed to no hands.)
I felt the exact same way about movie Oz when I saw the movie.
But I have often wondered if the reason I knew he was the villain and thought he was creepy and villain like the moment he first appears on screen is because I already knew he was the villain.
If I had gone in not knowing would I have known?
I've reread the comic many times since it was first released and my reaction to Oz when he first appears in the comic is now always, 'Yeah this is the bad guy.' I see it right away.
But I didn't the first time.
So confused...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/chrisau214/Scribbles-Ep04.jpg
Chris
Yeah that's always a possibility, but I can tell you my interpretation of the character was very different from the film's. He felt like a genuine humanitarian who was easy to like; in fact I'd go as far as to say he could be obnoxious in his likeability.
Film Oz was emotionless from his first scene on. Giving him away as the villain wasn't half as problematic for me as the general presentation of the character as a whole. It just wasn't the same guy.
The future is in the hands of a man who has none.(As in no future, as opposed to no hands.)
I always thought the movie was very well cast, even Malin Ackerman, with the exception of Matthew Goode.
Aside from just seeming smarmy from the moment he appears on screen he lacks the physical presence needed for Adrian and he totally lacks the gravitas needed to pull off the character.
The comic book Ozymandias projected power while the movie Ozy seemed like an insignificant twerp who wanted to project power.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v109/chrisau214/Scribbles-Ep04.jpg
Chris
The Joker is a force to be reckoned with in this film.
AC/DC and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan