Some great films come out in 2008, and along with those films came some great characters. Here are some of the characters that I thought stood out above the rest and deserved some recognition. I'm not judging the performances of the actors alone, but also the characters themselves. These were some of the most interesting, original and downright captivating characters of 08'.
10. Reepicheep (The Chronicles of Narnia : Prince Caspian)
Voice by British comedian Eddie Izzard, this little guy stole every scene he was in. Reepicheep was a knighted mouse and held honor and integrity as high as any knight would, but because he is a mouse he is highly underestimated by his opponents, which can sometimes work to his advantage, but mostly annoys him. Every time there's a battle sequence, Reepicheep would come across a guard who after seeing him gets this confused look on his face, and Reepicheep very annoyed by it would say "Yes, I'm a Mouse." just before he takes the guy out. It gets a laugh every time. My favorite thing about Reepicheep is how much depth was brought to the character. He could have just been a cute little mouse for the kids to enjoy, but he was a very well rounded and respectable character, and he could really kick some ass. All of this made him that much more interesting, because seeing him you want to go "Aww how cute.", but learning who he is and what he's about makes you actually care for him.
9. Johann Krauss (Hellboy II: The Golden Army)
Johann Krauss is ectoplasm vapor in a steel suit, he where's the suit to give him shape and help him fit in a work environment and also make him easily visible. He is hired to take command of Hellboy's team after Hellboy reveals himself to the public during a mission. Krauss is punctual, straight-laced, and scrupulously by the book. Everything Hellboy is not. So it goes without saying that they bump heads. The cool thing about Johann Krauss is that he doesn't have to be in that suit, he (the vapor) can leave the suit at will and physically manipulate objects or posses mechanical objects and living things. The first time we get to see this is when the conflict between Kruass and Hellboy escalate to a point where to get to fisticuffs in a locker room. Krauss leaves the suit an gives Hellboy a proper beat down using only the lockers doors. It's simultaneously hilarious, and shows us that Krauss can handle himself in a fight, but mostly hilarious. Being a new character in the world of Hellboy he just fits, it's like he was somewhere in the background of the first film and we just didn't notice. Bringing a new character into a franchise can always be dicey, but Krauss just feels right, like he should have been there the whole time, and I couldn't imagine the world of Hellboy without him now.
8. Paul and Peter (Funny Games)
Paul and Peter played brilliantly by Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet respectively, might be the most disturbing characters to come along since Hannibal Lecter. The reason I say this is because these guys can do the most unspeakable and torturous acts, and be so polite to the people who they're inflicting the pain on. In one of the scenes Paul actually says " I'm sorry I just broke your knees; but you weren't being very polite were you?" It's just trippy to watch, these are the nicest most polite guys who will help you with your grocery bags, help you put them away and then turn your life into a living nightmare just for fun, and apologize for it. You might be thinking "Wow these guys are crazy.". No. They were very sane and fully aware of they're actions, which made them even more disturbing. I could see if they were crazy, that would justify there actions. Yet, the fact that weren't makes them truly disturbing.
7. Wesley Gibson (Wanted)
Judging from the pic above you wouldn't think that guy was once the most timid and pathetic guy on Earth, but he was. Wesley Gibson was the type of guy who bought condoms for his best friend so that his best friend could go have sex with Wesley's girlfriend (yeah). He ate the same sandwich at the same deli at the same time everyday for lunch, and when his boss got on him he had a panic attack every time. One day Wes finds out that his father was the best assassin of a group of super assassins and his life gets a complete 180. What made Wes so captivating was his transformation from bitch to bad ass. You're sitting there thinking there's no way this guy is going to be that awesome, but the transformation of the character was honest and logical (given the subject matter) and that's why when Wes finally becomes the guy that he was born to be, it is so satisfying.
6. Les Grossman (Tropic Thunder)
Although this was a somewhat small role, it was certainly the biggest and funniest surprise in Tropic Thunder (and that's saying something). Tom Cruise puts on a fat suit, a bald cap, and a fake beard to give us his funniest and best performance in while. Les Grossman might have been in only three or four scenes of the movie, but whenever this foul mouthed Hollywood studio exec that didn't that shit from no one was one the screen, the laughter was nonstop. Tom Cruise was so funny in fact that I was trying to keep myself from laughing so loud just to hear was he was going to say next, and when he was done talking that's when I would let myself laugh.
5. Tony Stark (Iron Man)
Tony Stark a brilliant inventor and CEO of a mutlibillion dollar weapons manufacture Stark Industries, he's irresponsible and one of the most charismatic men in the world, and oh yeah he's Iron Man. When Tony finds that his weapons were getting into the wrong hands he wants to do something about it so through circumstances of the film he ends up building a suit made of titanium alloy that can be used as a weapon. The way the film shows Tony building the suit is so believable, like this thing could really be built by someone who was smart enough. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never seen a genius in a film be such a cool and likable guy. They're usually an annoying side character that we don't see until the main character needs something. Yet, Tony was just a likable and funny guy who just so happened to be the smartest man in the world.
4. Kirk Lazarus (Tropic Thunder)
" I'm the dude, who's playing a dude, disguised as another dude!" Robert Downey Jr. was on a roll last year. First we got his amazing take on Tony Stark, and then he gives us one of the funniest characters to come along since Jim Carrey's character Fletcher Reede in Liar Liar. This could have easily been the most offensive role ever, and it would have ruined any other actors career, but Downey pulled it off in a way that I never expected. Kirk Lazarus is an actor who is so dedicated and so method towards his acting that he literally becomes his character, and he never under any circumstances breaks character. As he says in the film he doesn't break character until after the DVD commentary, that's dedication. He gets a role in a big budget Vietnam war movie called Tropic Thunder and his character his a black guy from New Orleans, so he goes as far as to get a controversial skin procedure in order to look the man in the pic above. I have no idea how he pulled this off, but Downey was absolutely hilarious in this movie, his performance alone is worth seeing what will go down in history as a comedy classic.
3. Benjamin Button (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
A guy that ages backwards is captivating enough, but Benjamin wasn't just a really cool make up effect, he was a guy just like us. He goes through life the same way we all do, not really knowing the all the answers, but just living the best way you know how. The fact that a guy who is seemingly extraordinary is just like you and me makes this character truly captivating. He is grounded in reality making us believe than on the rarest of occasions someone can age backwards. Brad Pitt give one of his most interesting performances, he played it very subtle making Ben more plausible. It's just one of those characters were I can't really explain it, you just have to see for yourself to get what I am trying to say.
2. WALL-E & EVE (WALL-E)
Pixar is and has been my favorite movie studio since Toy Story. They've always came up with fantastic stories and great characters, but my fav Pixar characters to date are WALL-E and EVE. Only Pixar can take two robots that really only say "Wall-e." or "Eve." throughout the entire film and give them life. There was so much emotion in these characters it's unbelievable. This is best demonstrated in the film, when WALL-E has his motherboard replaced he temporarily loses memory of who his is and just does his robot duties with no emotion. That difference between WALL-E as a character and WALL-E as and empty shell of a robot is so striking that up until that point in the film you really didn't notice how much depth, emotion, and character these two robots had. They weren't just ordinary robots, they were two of the most heartfelt characters of to come across the silver screen in quite some time.
1. The Joker ( The Dark Knight)
He was insane, unpredictable (sometimes even to himself), ruthless, chaotic, and well...The Joker. Heath Ledger gave the performance of his career as The Joker, he makes Jack Nicholson's Joker look like a circus clown. This guy was truly a force to be reckoned with, diabolical in every since of the word. There isn't enough I can say about The Joker so I'm going to keep this short or else I'm going to go on forever. A villain in the truest form, The Joker was the best character of 2008.
So there you have it, my picks for the best characters of 08'. Hope you enjoyed my list, maybe there's a character that you think I might have forgotten, or thought one of my picks should have been higher or lower on the list. Let me know in the comments.
one luv, Toinne
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