THN Top Tens: The Top Ten Action Movie Heroines!

Wel, it must be a Friday – it must be a new release movie Friday and it must be time for a THN Top Ten. This week, to celebrate the release of the superb Joe Wright movie HANNA, we’re taking a look at the top ten action movie heroines in the female form – in other words ‘chicks on screen that kick butt.’ Again, this list comes from my collective archive buried deep within my own brain, cemented in from years of watching ladies on screen donning tight vests, brandishing firearms and disposing of bad guys left, right and center. As always, would love to hear who you think should have made my list in the comments section below. I think I’ve done quite well though.

You’ll find Luc Besson and his movies showing up no less than three times in this here list, not because that I love his movies, but because he has a terrible habit of putting ladies in kick-ass lead roles…. in movies that I love. I could have put Bridget Fonda at the number ten spot for her role in THE ASSASSIN, but we have to look back at the film on which that movie was based to find the true heart of the character, the hit-women in a tight dress that was NIKITA. Said film spawned terrible remake with Fonda and Harvey Keitel, and even a very long-running TV series of the same name, but it’s Besson’s original that outshines them all and Anna Parillaud is excellent in the lead.

I was an absolute sucker for Geena Davis during my teenage years, and can even remember her from the days of old in films like BEETLEJUICE, THE FLY and even QUICK CHANGE will Bill Murray… I even loved her in CUTTHROAT ISLAND, but I guess that that has something to do with the very tight uplifting period costume. That movie was directed by Renny Harlin, hot off directing DIE HARD 2: DIE HARD, but it is their 1996 re-teaming (they were together ‘romantically’ at the time) in the Shane Black scripted THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT that makes our list. Davis plays a Jason Bourne type character who is suffering from a little amnesia and as her memory starts to come back, so does he troubled past. The film, as always with LETHAL WEAPON scripter Black was a buddy-type actioner with smart dialogue and high-octane action sequences. It should have been Davis’s launch pad into being one of Hollywood’s elite women action stars. Her next film however was STUART LITTLE.

Jodie Foster? Action star? Have you not seen MAVERICK? It’s her role in the superb 1990 movie THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS which makes the list though with Foster as the FBI agent on the trail of naughty serial killer Buffalo Bill (“He applies the lotion…”), aided by even naughtier caged killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). It was a groundbreaking role was this for Foster as Clarice Starling as not only was she the lead character in a mainstream critically and commercially successful movie, but she as Starling had balls bigger than any male trying to compete in any other bloke-led film of the time. Who else would literally rub a ball-load full of man-fat from her brow and just go get on with it. A worthy addition.

Luc Besson entry number two on the list, and here’s one of today’s female action heroines Milla Jovovich in the 1997 Bruce Willis led sci-fi actioner THE FIFTH ELEMENT. Jovovich played the character of Leeloo in the film and I can hear you all screaming at me questioning this addition, but although the character has very little action-filled scenes led by her in the film, who can forget that now famous scene where Leeloo jumps off of a fururistic building in slow-motion down into the back seat of Corbin Dallas’s cab. Maybe it’s the teaming of Besson and Willis that has won over, or the re-teaming of Besson and Gary Oldman – whatever… she’s on the list and she’s staying.

Who could omit the ultimate action heroine from this list and who indeed could forget the first TOMB RAIDER movie. I literally would love to fly over to Hollywood and shake the hand of the studio exec that greenlighted a movie version of this classic Eidos video-game which starred Angelina Jolie clad in the tightest of tight lycra, with platted long brunette hair running around ancient ruins whilst brandishing twin guns… Aargh! Moving on….

Besson #3. I know you’re getting bored now, but here’s a very young Natalie Portman in perhaps Besson’s finest hour, LEON – or THE PROFESSIONAL as it was known in the US. I can’t quite pinpoint as to why this makes the list with Portman’s character Mathilda, but I think it’s once again becuase of the very strong female character who is surrounded by so much violence who somehow manages to retain so much innocence. We’re in many ways cruing out for Portman to return to the role in a sequel, but in so many others begging that it never happens as the last thing that we would want would be to damage the memory of such an iconic role in a superb movie.

Okay, so Uma Thurman’s The Bride is shot in the head, buried alive, trained and beaten to within an inch of her life in both KILL BILL movies… and survives. Why do I even have to justify her inclusion in this list? KILL BILL is ageing with such good grace becuase of some excellently executed scenes, the total genre-switching nature between both of the moviesand the brilliant performance of an actress in another one of thost very rare female lead roles that come along maybe once in a decade. Tarantino, we salute you for creating The Bride and Uma, you too for breathing life into her.

So, is Chloe Moretz’s Hit Girl younger than Natalie Portman’s Mathilda? Is this the youngest addition to our list? It’s certainly the youngest at the highest slot. How much does her featuring owe to that now immortal line – “Okay you cunts, let’s see what you can do?” Who cares as to why, Hit Girl just is, and the smallest, baddest female role seen in film in many years. Chloe Moretz nailed the character, and possibly out of all of the females listed on this here poll, has the most kills to her name too.

We’re listing Linda Hamilton’s performance as Sarah Connor in the second TERMINATOR movie here, and not the first. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY was the film where the character grew a set of balls, learned how to use a pump-action shotgun and semi-automatic weapons, reduced the amount of lines delivered and amped up the macho-ness and muscle to deliver one of the most iconic roles in modern cinema… and that was all down to Linda Hamilton. Who could forget the scene where she is confronted by the now good-guy Terminator, played by big Arnie, with all of that aforementioned macho-ness gone in a heartbeat as she stops dead in her tracks as the big man walks into her path.  Come with me if you want to live…

And so to number one in our top action-movie heroines. There could be only one really couldn’t there? Sigourney Weaver has played Ellen Ripley in no less than four ALIEN movies, but for all out kick-assness, and although I have referenced the original film in the graphic above, it was ALIENS, directed by James Cameron which defined the character and Weaver playing it. What type of character does it take to fend off an army of hostile aliens, and what kind of actress does it take to pull off said character. This one. Weaver will always be remembered no matter what she does for Ripley, and so she should. An iconic character, in an iconic series of movies. Get off her you bitch!!!!!!!!!

HANNA plays in cinemas across the UK from 6th May, 2011.