Top 10 Antiheroes

I like my heroes complicated, flawed and tortured, gritty but with at some redeeming qualities. We shouldn't always like our antiheroes, and we should question the way we feel about them at some point or another. They own the true essence of yin and yang, the light and the dark, the good and the bad, the great duality of man. Below is a list of the 10 best in movies and TV.

10. John Creasy (played by Denzel Washington in Man On Fire)
John Creasy is a retired CIA agent who reluctantly takes a job protecting a young girl named Pita in Mexico City, a location running rampant with cartel ransom kidnappings. He's all business at first, but more time with Pita sees their relationship blossom, turning Creasy into a father figure and a best friend to the young girl. He attends her swim meets, coaches her on the basics, protects her to and fro, and she even names her stuffed animal bear after him. He doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, when Pita is targeted by the cartel, with the help of some crooked Mexico City cops, Creasy is shot and left for dead while Pita is snatched up the bad guys. When the money drop, arranged by Pita's wealthy, crooked father, is hijacked, the cartel shrugs their shoulders and kills poor Pita.

After he recovers, Creasy is no less shaken by Pita's death than he was when he first found out. After visiting her room and reading through her diary, riddled with tokens of love from the little girl, Creasy sets himself on a deadly mission for answers - and to make anyone associated with Pita's death pay with their life, including the cartel and the crooked cops. Why is Creasy an antihero? He cuts off the fingers of the cops, places explosives up their hind parts, and blows up cars with a bazooka in the middle of broad daylight. With the death of Pita, which Creasy comes to find out was staged, he becomes a man on fire, setting into motion a bloody chain of events that end assuredly with a pound of flesh.




9. Clarence Worley (played by Christian Slater in True Romance)
I feel like not enough people know about the fine piece of work that is True Romance. Clarence Worley is immediately likable, showing us his love for kung-fu movies, comic books, and Elvis. He loves Elvis so much that the King, played by Val Kilmer, often shows up in Clarence's overactive imagination to give him pep talks. Clarence's boss hires a call-girl, Alabama, to show up at the movies and give young Clarence the night of his life. The problem is, Alabama is looking for a way out, and she falls head over heels in love with Clarence, and vice versa. But in order for Alabama to leave her past behind, Clarence has to confront her pimp, Drexl Spivey, who is one mean baddie. After Clarence upends him, he grabs a bag of what he thinks is Alabama's clothes and belongings. Turns out, it's actually a bag full of cocaine that belongs to the Coccotta crime family and the notorious gangster, Blue Lou Boyle.

Clarence and Alabama soon take off from Detroit to LA, where they meet up with up-and-coming actor and friend, Dick Gregory. Dick soon points Clarence in the direction of a Hollywood, big-shot director, who is looking score the boatload of the cocaine Clarence found back in Detroit. The police soon catch wind of the deal and set up a sting operation which pits Clarence against the police, the Italian mob, and a pair of Hollywood bodyguards, while Alabama struggles in her own battle against a mob henchman. Why is Clarence an antihero? Because he's certainly lovable to the audience and Alabama, though he totes a massive case of cocaine from one side of the country to another, has a shootout with cops, and murders a dreadlocked scumbag for the love of his life.




8. John Smith (played by Bruce Willis in Last Man Standing)
Last Man Standing is by far my favorite Bruce Willis vehicle, his jungle war movie Tears of the Sun coming in at a distant second. The movie is a Roaring Twenties delight in the guise of a spaghetti western. Italian and Irish mobs based out of Chicago compete for booze shipments during Prohibition in the midst of a desolate Texas town. Bruce Willis, going by the name he gives to the mobsters, John Smith, plays both sides of the gang war, trading alliances in order to make some money while he's hiding away from troubles in the big city. Smith has done some nefarious things, a circumstance which begged for the prequel we never got. He's good with his twin pistols, using them to vanquish the mobsters on behalf of the women he meets and silently swears to protect. The neutral town sheriff tells Smith at one point, "When you go down, it'll be over a skirt."

Smith first kills one of the Irishmen, a happening that surprisingly impresses the boss, Doyle. While he's trying to hire Smith, the lone gunman goes to work for Stassi and the Italians instead, where he meets the starlet charms of Lucy. He sees her behind Strassi's back, which may serve as the precursor for Strassi and Smith's falling out. This is when Smith goes to work for Doyle and Irish. Hickey, a mob goon played by endearing charms of Christopher Walken, is immediately weary of Smith, and with good reason. Smith again proves his allegiance to the victimized femme fatale, a circumstance that puts he, Hickey, and Doyle on a collision course. Why is John Smith an antihero? Yeah, he has his enduring qualities, but did some bad things back in the big city, and he uses people and their agendas for his own gain.




7. Ragnar Lothbrok (played by Travis Fimmel in Vikings)
I sure am glad the History Channel exists in my lifetime, and that they decided to make their only syndicated show about the trials and tribulations of my Nordic ancestors, the Vikings. The show Vikings revolves around the legendary deeds of Norseman Ragnar Lothbrok. In the early seasons, we see the character evolve, tackling the shores of England, the ins and outs of family life, and grappling with the roles of farmer, earl, king, and finally, legend. He takes an English monk named Athelstan captive, only to become his best friend. We watch Ragnar sack new lands, sure, but we also see him tangle with his religion, or lack thereof. By the first season, he is completely loyal to the Norse gods, doing anything and everything to appease them. By his final, he's questioning the existence of god, the Christian god and Odin, resolving that man is ultimately responsible for creating his own fate. It takes Ragnar many wives, many sons, many battle campaigns, and much exposure to other cultures to come to this conclusion, and we get to see every one of them in the show's long-going history.



                                                        Why is Ragnar an antihero? Because he dishonors his wife Lagertha when he shacks up with Swedish princess Auslag. He soon develops a nasty heroin addiction after crossing paths with a Asian slave. He sacks cities and kills his share of rivals, all in the name of plunder and personal glory. You're not human if you aren't mad at Ragnar from time to time, but by the end of his life, after his sons by Lagertha and Auslag have grown to squabble over their father's legacy, Ragnar has life figured out and what's left is a humble man, full of integrity, embracing his fate so that his sons can follow in his footsteps.




6. Jax Teller (played by Charlie Hunnam in Sons of Anarchy)
If there was ever a Ragnar Lothbrok for the modern age, it would be Jax Teller. It's safe to say that motorcycle gangs are the modern version of Vikings, with their scruffy appearances and their Viking ships traded in for roaring Harleys. Jax's father, John, was once the president of SAMCRO, or the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original. Jax grows up through the ranks trying to find a connection with his deceased father, who's best friend, Clay Morrow, has taken over as club president. Tensions eventually come to a head, and Jax becomes the new ruler of the Sons, the grittiest motorcycle club and criminal element in the fictional town of Charming, California. He and Ragnar Lothbrok have a lot in common. Both rule their roost, both question their existence, and both try to lead as normal a family life as they can given all their taboo exploits. Jax murders his share of offenders, orders up more from his loyal brothers, struggles his way through both the internal and external conflicts that plagued the show's tenure.

Why is Jax an antihero? He was very likable, but yes, he occasionally murdered folks, including his own mother. He also occasionally reached out for the nearest extramarital affair, and while we were often angry at the ruggedly handsome president, we still rooted for him in all his charisma and familial loyalty. Jax is a highly-flawed character, but that's probably the most distinguishing feature of the classical antihero. Every decision he makes is in the best interest of his club, to which he shows the most intense amount of loyalty.




5. Marv (played by Mickey Rourke in Sin City)
Marv is a graphic novel character who popped to life in Frank Miller's film adaptation of Sin City. This film was like no other I'd ever seen, gritty and unrelenting in its quest for noir sensibilities. Three different stories were essentially tied into one, with a ragtag crew of seedy characters battling against the corrupt powers that were in a city unsafe for most. Marv was by far the most colorful of these characters, brutal and loyal in his singular mission. He has fallen in love with an angel of a woman named Goldie. She's a prostitute, yes, but she was the first person to show genuine kindness to a bum like Marv. When she is murdered in her sleep, the grizzled warrior takes to the streets to find who did it, and why they did it. This leads him to Goldie's twin sister, Wendy, who helps soft-hearted brute track down the sinister forces responsible.

Why is Marv an antihero? He doesn't have the best attitude about life in general. He grumbles his way here and there, and kills a lot of people on the way to finding Goldie's killer. He basically tells any and every cop to kiss off, begs them to pour on the pain, and murders the bad guys in depraved ways, the most prime example having something to do with a hacksaw. Marv seems like a dangerous guy to know, but you can't help but applaud him for his brutal mission.




4. Eric Draven (played by Brandon Lee in The Crow)
Brandon Lee died tragically, nearly the same way his father, legendary martial artist and philosopher, Bruce Lee, did. That didn't stop him from leaving his legacy behind, with The Crow receiving quite the cult following after his death. The Crow was his breakthrough role, much like Heath Ledger and his Joker. In a scene in which his character is shot, he was really shot by a faulty blank and died hours later in the hospital. Brandon was trained as a martial artist his entire life, but went out of his way leave it out of his role as Eric Draven, attempting to bring a new dynamic to the character.

Why is Eric an antihero? He's a walking dead man. He rises from the grave a year after he and his fiancee are killed in order to dish out street justice toward the ones responsible. He makes a pincushion out of one victim, overdoses another, wires another to an exploding car, and tosses the last out of a multi-story window. Eric is kindhearted toward little girl Sarah and cop friend Albrecht, but ruthless and cold-blooded toward the killers. He's a wanted man, a vigilante, which always puts one just outside arm's reach of the law.





3. Frank Castle (played by John Bernthal in The Punisher)
The Punisher has been brought to the screen many different times. Method actor John Bernthal's latest edition is undoubtedly the best, showing up first in the second season of Netflix's Daredevil, then starring in his own spin-off series. In both, Bernthal plays Frank Castle, an ex-special forces soldier whose family is murdered in front of him. Frank takes revenge on mankind, mostly slaying mafia figures and other criminals with the vast array of weapons at his disposal. His introduction comes simply enough, but it soon puts him on trial for his crimes, landing him in a prison setting where the odds are certainly stacked against him. In his own series, he's witness to an international war crime, and once those responsible find out he's actually alive, they send out the dogs for him.

Why is Frank Castle an antihero? He plays the role of judge, jury, and executioner on the streets, becoming a vigilante for the sake of his murdered family. Is he right? Not really. Do we still like him? Absolutely. He's tough, hard to kill, and protects the innocent as he looks to uncover one plot after another. He slays a whole brood of prison inmates with wooden pokers and prison shanks as they try to murder him. This is hardly the stuff that Captain America is made of.




2. Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino in The Godfather)
The Godfather was way ahead of its time in terms of portraying an antihero like Michael Corleone. We first see Michael as a US soldier returning from active duty. He's surrounded by his brothers and father, who are all active members of an organized crime ring in New York City. His father, Vito, lives through an assassination attempt, which only pulls Michael into the family business full time. From there, he kills the two men responsible for his father's shooting in a restaurant meeting, goes on the run to Sicily, and returns to take his father's place as the undisputed boss.


Why is Michael an antihero? We care about he and his family from start to finish. Yes, they are members of the mafia, but we get to know them as people, and we begin to admire them for their ruthlessness. When Michael becomes the boss, his killing days are over - well, kind of. He orders up the cold-blooded slayings of the other ruling mafia families while he repents of his sins at Mass, becoming godfather to his infant niece - the one whose father Michael orders strangled to death in the mayhem.




1. Driver (played by Ryan Gosling in Drive)
Maybe I'm a little biased, but Drive is my favorite movie. Gosling plays the role so well, a Hollywood stunt driver by day and getaway driver by night. If that's not duality, I don't know what is. His criminal lifestyle takes a halt when he meets Irene and her young son, Benicio, his next door neighbors. Irene's petty criminal husband has just been released from prison, and it isn't long until he's back to his nefarious ways, indirectly pulling Irene and Benicio into harm's way. This is when Driver (he's so cool, he doesn't need a name) flies into action. He's smitten with Irene and Benicio and will allow nothing bad to happen to them, no matter the cost. The whole time he's on his mission to protect them, he wears silk jacket with a scorpion on the back - his unofficial superhero's costume. He definitely strikes like a scorpion, as Driver gets ultra-violent toward the underworld element.






Why is Driver an antihero? He drives brilliantly as a getaway driver for bank robbers and the criminal element. We know he gets a thrill out of this, but we never see his reaction to it, as Driver is as stone-faced as they come. On a mission to protect Irene, Driver brandishes a hammer to beat bad guy brains in. He also wields a shotgun and a knife here and there, anything it takes to fight off the baddies who're out for Irene and Benicio. This movie is a gory one, and it's usually Driver who's making the blood fly.

The Devil in the Details

The Netflix original film, Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil, comes off more like a cautionary tale or a lost fable than a mainstream movie choice. While Netflix offered it up in a dubbed-over English, I chose to watch the film in its original Basque language, in itself a unique mix of Spanish and French, but linguistically independent from both. The film comes off as part Pan's Labyrinth and part Brothers Grimm, a sordid art piece taken from the annals of Basque folklore.

Nineteenth-century Basque Country is a mysterious land filled with rolling hills, picturesque streams, dank taverns, and of course, the Carlist War. This is basically a Spanish civil war, pitting those loyal to Maria Cristina, the wife of King Ferdinand VII and Queen Regent on behalf of their infant daughter, against the Carlists, supporters of Carlos V, brother of Ferdinand. Much of the skirmishes landed in the backwoods of Basque Country, where our story takes place. This little-known piece of history provides the backdrop for an otherworldly piece of folklore, similar to something we at some time or another were read in our childhoods. Much like Pan's Labyrinth, Errementari takes place in midst of a Spanish civil war and offers up supernatural, demimonde delights for an enraptured audience.

The story follows the Blacksmith, an infamous, mysterious man, otherwise known as Patxi, who lives burrowed away in the thickened woods of the territory. He once killed one of Maria Cristina's officers, which made him somewhat of a folk hero and a monstrous cautionary tale to his own countrymen. He's a living ghost story to scare the local children, their parents and the rest of the townies spouting tales of the tormented screams heard coming from the Blacksmith's domicile. The rural setting of the gritty, muddy countryside lends its grim mood and atmosphere to the story, filled with sad, tormented characters, each seemingly chained to their own demons. The whole of the Basque County is racked with strife in the wake of the civil war, making it difficult for any of the flawed characters to find any sort of joy.

When government officials are sent out to round up the Blacksmith for his murder some year earlier, we're given a glimpse at his abode. It's an alarming hollow he's constructed for himself, consisting of splintering wood, rusty metal, spikes, chains, animal traps, flames, and iron crosses. The ramshackle fence is riddled with the international symbol of Christendom, which begs the question - what form do Patxi's devils take on exactly? The government troops are buffoons, but when they attack the Blacksmith in his home, they walk away from the skirmish with the severest limp. The Blacksmith doesn't want to be bothered, and repeatedly warns the men to leave before the carnage ensues. This essentially leads us to our heroine, the young Usue. Both the names Patxi and Usue are hardly Spanish or French in origin, which shows just how unique the Basque language and culture is despite its border-straddling location.

Patxi's devil isn't exactly THE devil, but a demon by the name of Sartael. He's low on the totem pole back in Hell, especially now that he's being held captive by the grizzled Blacksmith, tortured and humiliated. Patxi owes Sartael his soul, but based on a tragic technicality, Patxi has refused to give up the ghost. Patxi blames Sartael for the death of his wife, and repeatedly tortures the shape-shifting demon for it.

A sad, lonely, orphaned Usue eventually finds her way into the path of the Blacksmith after fighting with the local bullies, the ones who torment her in the wake of her mother's suicide. She never knew her mother, a circumstance that connects her with the morbid, cryptic Blacksmith. Usue first crosses paths with him as he buries the body of an unfortunate government official. When she finds her way into Patxi's lair, she's tricked by Sartael into setting him free from his iron cage. Local search parties to find the missing girl soon ensue, as do more tragic deaths and visionary journeys into the depths of Hell. The Blacksmith goes to great lengths to protect Usue from evil, and they don't know until the end that they are connected by a local woman who hung herself in heartbreak. Sartael even turns out to be better than we all think, seeing as how he's taken an unlikely liking to the sweet, innocent Usue.

Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil is a gloomy, beautifully-shot masterpiece. We're given glimpses into the hellish lives of the characters, and even more visionary glimpses into Hell itself. Questions abound throughout the film about whether or not our characters' loved ones occupy Hell, and how they might be able to rescue the souls from the fiery abyss. Some even dare to brave the flames and the steaming tributaries themselves, facing their darkest demons head-on with the unlikeliest of weapons.

Top 5 Kung-Fu Movies

5. The Five Venoms (1978)
The Five Venoms coincides with my kung-fu renaissance, my re-introduction back into the movies that shaped my childhood. I used to work a youth center, where I worked with a guy who also love these movies. He let me borrow The Five Venoms on VHS, and the feeling I got watching it was both nostalgic and gleeful. The movie follows five martial artists trained in five different styles of kung-fu - centipede, snake, scorpion, lizard, and toad. Once the five leave their training, their master feels that they may use their skills for nefarious reasons. He tells his newest and final pupil to find track the Venoms down, though the task won't be easy, as they have shed their masks and blended into civilized society.

Centipede and Snake knew each previously, as did Lizard and Toad, though no one knew the identity of Scorpion. Centipede and Snake are looking to rob an old kung-fu master of his gold, and go on a killing spree attempting to achieve that goal. Meanwhile, Toad, along with Lizard, who has since become a municipal policeman, is on a clandestine path to bring the killers to justice. Scorpion is later revealed as Lizard's policeman partner, and is clearly playing both sides, trying to snag the gold for himself. An epic fight ensues that pits the Venoms against one another, along with the latest pupil, whose kung-fu can only defeat one of the Venoms when it's coupled alongside the style of another venom.




4. Shaolin Mantis (1978)
Every Saturday growing up, I used to rush home at 3 pm to watch Black Belt Theater, a network segment that every week offered up a dubbed over kung-fu delight. Of them, Shaolin Mantis was the first that I saw and was a favorite of mine growing up. Wei Feng is a government agent working for the emperor in China. He seeks to infiltrate the household of resistance fighters as a teacher for a spoiled, kung-fu-practicing girl named Chi Chi. The two of them eventually fall in love, and the only thing that will keep the grey-haired master antagonist from killing Wei Feng is if he marries Chi Chi and continues living in their house. There is a coveted list of other resistance fighters that the old master has possession of, and Wei Feng steals it, looking to make a quick escape.

With Chi Chi in tow, Wei Feng fights his way through a miriad of Chi Chi's uncles on the way to the master, Chi Chi's pipe-toting grandfather. While trying to provide her husband's escape, Chi Chi is killed and Wei Feng is left for dead when he plummets over a cliff. This is when he comes across a praying mantis. He observes the creature, taking cues from it and indirectly learns a new style of kung-fu from it that he can take back to the master and topple his regime. Wei Feng is essentially double-crossed in the end, but he goes out like a champion, the first and last man to ever master mantis-style kung-fu.




3. Crippled Avengers (1978)
Like many of these late-70s kung-fu sagas, Crippled Avengers comes off more like a fable. It's the story of a kung-fu master's vendetta in which his wife's legs and his adolescent son's arms are chopped off. We start off feeling bad for him, but the master and his son grow up to be tyrannical bullies, killing and disfiguring anyone who crosses them. Four of those are either completely innocent or pay for the freedom of speaking their minds. Four ordinary guys are blinded, crippled, made deaf and mute, and made mentally handicapped by the master and his iron-armed son. The four are a ragtag crew who help another lost soul back to his own master. The master is so grateful that he trains the cripples so that they can take their revenge on the tyrants who wronged them.

Crippled Avengers is a pretty simple plot that doesn't take too long develop, with the origin stories of the master and his iron-armed son coming at the very beginning. Most of the avengers were also featured in The Five Venoms and The Kid With the Golden Arm, referred to affectionately by kung-fu movie enthusiasts as the Venom Mob, a sort of kung-fu Brat Pack. Lo Meng is the actor featured in most, well-built and poised for the feature role.




2. The Kid With the Golden Arm (1979)
A lot of king-fu movies liked to dabble in gold, and in martial artists who mastered a certain style. There is supposed to be a shipment of gold taken to group of famine survivors, but word has spread that the Chi Sha Gang, headed by Golden Arm, Silver Spear, Iron Rogue, and Brass Head, will hijack the shipment en route. The man in charge of protecting it, Yang, hires a sword-swinging couple, Li Chin Ming and Miss Leng Feng, along with drunken master Agent Hai Tao, to protect it. Hai Tao fights better when he's drunk, and is constantly seen carrying a canister of wine (which actually just looks like water).

The Chi Sha are taken down one at a time until only Golden Arm remains. His best accolade is his strength and his arms that are likened to metal, capable and twisting and destroying the blades of opponent swords. He soon kills Li Chun Ming, but is defeated and blinded by Hai Tao. Then, the two unlikely allies battle a double-crosser together. At the conclusion, a now blinded Golden Arm swears he'll live quietly and retire from his bandit ways. Miss Leng Feng has other ideas, seeing as how it was Golden Arm who killed her lover, Li Chi Ming.




1. Executioners from Shaolin (1977)
Executioners from Shaolin is unique in this genre because it's king of two separate movies combined into one. The first half finds Hung Si-Kwan engaged in a Buddhist versus Daoist fight to the death, the two factions waging a war that puts Hung Si-Kwan on a path toward the beautiful Fang Yun-Chun. She is extremely talented at the crane technique of kung-fu, while Hung is a master of the tiger style.

Plot points in the movie are more intimated than explained, with Hung and Fang having a son together, Hung Wen-Ting, who is raised learning the crane style. Tiger is more masculine, while crane is more feminine, so Hung Wen-Ting wears pigtails like a girl, as he is learning the crane style from his mother. Sure, he gets picked on by peers, but he fends them off only to get scolded by his father, who refuses to teach him tiger style. This is never explained, but we have to assume that Hung Si-Kwan won't teach Hung Wn-Ting tiger style because he doesn't want him involved in the religious war with the Daoists, headed by the evil eunuch and kung-fu master, Pai Mei.

The character of Pai Mei made such a lasting impression on martial arts culture that nearly 30 years later, Quentin Tarantino made him a central force in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as the teacher of protagonist, Beatrix Kiddo.




The Pai Mei of Executioners fame has an interesting super power. He's a eunuch, and while he does possess one weak spot in some unknown area on his body, that weak spot shifts after 3 pm, making him even harder to defeat. Hung Si-Kwan spends decades trying to find the weak point. His first showdown with Pai Mei results in defeat, but one that he walks away from. As he will never stop trying to avenge his master, Hung Si-Kwan seeks out Pai Mei a second time. This time, he is killed. It's then on Hung Wen-Ting to avenge his father. On his mother's request, Hung Wen-Ting teaches himself tiger style by way of his father's old manual and writings. He learns this to go with the crane style he's been perfecting his entire life. After finding the right combination of the two styles, he defeats and kills the legendary Pai Mei in dramatic fashion.

Executioners from Shaolin presents a neatly-woven tale of vendetta and family saga, one in which the main protagonist dies, but his periphery son steps up to be the hero in the end. The movie is so different from any of the others, and the epic end fight and the familial significance leading up to the fight makes it stand out on a list full of innovative, allegorical, fable-like kung-fu offerings.

Top 10 Fight Scenes

I like my fight scenes gritty, epic, and unapologetic. Below, I've compiled a list of 10 of the best I've seen in TV and movies. Some are bloody. Some are brutal. Some are straight up gory, so viewer discretion advised. They feature man against man, woman against man, woman against woman, tall against short, two against one, one against many. They span decades of TV and cinema and prove just how real a fake fight scene can actually be.

10. Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul Jabar (from Game of Death - 1978)
In Bruce Lee's final movie before his tragic death, he took on all odds and organized crime. And in typical video game style, at the end, he climbs from one level of a pagoda to another, taking on a different "boss" on each. The final stage featured legendary NBA center, Kareem Abdul Jabar. Their size difference stands out immediately, which is what makes this fight scene so interesting. Bruce had his way with the other bosses, but had a little more trouble adjusting to the height difference with Kareem, whom Bruce trained himself in real life. This is the oldest entry on the list, but it's one of the most epic. Bruce's outfit here was later mimicked in Kill Bill, a movie that later makes this list.

9. Jet Li vs. French Twins (from Kiss of the Dragon - 2001)
This Jet Li gem features lots of fighting, as his Chinese Agent Liu is double-crossed by crooked French agents tied up in a murder and a prostitution ring. Liu has no friends, except for one lowly woman of the night, which whom he strikes up an unlikely bond, and helps protect from the powers that be. Jet is a little guy, but wow, can he fight. The best scene the movie gives us is this one in which he takes on French twins, one who is a martial arts master, and the other who is brawny and big. The fight takes place in the close quarters of an office space, giving the advantage to Jet and his smaller, more compacted strikes.





8. Bjorn Ironside vs. Berserker Viking (from Vikings - 2013)
We move from the realm of martial arts to brutal, winter combat in the hinterlands of Scandinavia. In Season 4 of Vikings, Bjorn Ironside sojourns out into the wilderness on his own in order to find himself and to become a man. He's the firstborn son of the great Ragnar Lothbrok, and little does he know, he's a hunted man. A Viking Berserker is paid to hunt Bjorn down and assassinate him, and while the Berserker is a little less berserk than he would have been in real life, he's still a big, bad, menacing figure to meet in the dead of a Norwegian winter.

7. Spartacus and Crixus vs. Theocoles (from Spartacus: Blood and Sand - 2010)
Spartacus, a Thracian slave turned gladiator, and Crixus, the undefeated Gaul and Champion of Capua, join forces here to take on the legendary beast of a man, Theocoles. The two are sort of frenemies at this point in the show, and do well to fight together while they're being held captive in a gladiator school. Crixus gets the rawer end of the stick against Theocoles, which is the price he pays for his mighty hubris. While he helps to weaken the massive Theocoles, Spartacus finishes the job and brings the rain in a time when the city of Capua was suffering through a drought. This makes him incredibly popular with the crowd.

6. Beatrix Kiddo, AKA Black Mamba vs. Vernita Green, AKA Copperhead (from Kill Bill Vol. 1 - 2003)
Beatrix, whose name we don't even find out until Kill Bill Vol. 2, had Vernita Green as number one on her revenge list. This fight scene comes to us at the beginning of Kill Bill Vol. 1, starting the movie off fast and furious and on a trajectory of bloody vengeance. Vernita has her own family now and has since moved on from her sordid past as a world-class assassin, but that doesn't mean that Beatrix can forgive or forget what happened to her. Black Mamba shows no mercy for Copperhead, not even in the broad daylight thought-to-be shelter of her suburban home.

5. Beatrix Kiddo AKA Black Mamba vs. Elle Driver AKA California Mountain Snake (from Kill Bill Vol. 2 - 2004)
After laying waste to Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii, Beatrix sets her sights on Elle Driver, the sadistic one-eyed femme fatale who killed her own former associate over a case full of cash. She actually did Beatrix a favor with this, as Black Mamba then had one less person to kill. This epic fight scene takes place in a desert trailer, its walls destroyed and its interior decimated. The loser isn't killed here, but she's left for dead, blind and injured with a poisonous snake slithering around the interior of the trailer.

4. Matthew Weston vs. Keller (from Safe House - 2012)
This is a brutal, gritty fight scene from a movie that didn't seem to get much attention. Denzel Washington is a government turncoat painted as a villain, and Matthew Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is the agent caught in the middle. That centrist position is what gets him into this all or nothing brawl against crooked agent Keller, which reduces a safe house to shards and glass pebbles.






3. Lorraine Broughton vs. the KGB (from Atomic Blonde - 2017)
Atomic Blonde was one of the coolest movie to come out of 2017. It's set in the 1980s against a backdrop of retro music and Cold War tensions that extended to Merry Ol' London. Lorraine Broughton is the toughest female protagonist since Beatrix Kiddo, and in this scene, she's taking on a handful of KGB agents who are no softies in their own right. This fight is brutal and bloody, including guns and household items wielded as weapons. This is one of the best roles Charlize Theron has ever suited up for, right up there with her Furiosa from Mad Max: Thunder Road.

2. The Punisher vs. Prison Inmates (from Daredevil - 2015)
If you thought the last fight was bloody, hold onto your arteries. This one is probably the most brutal fight scene I've ever seen. The Punisher, AKA Frank Castle, is stuck in prison for murdering bad guys, but has had a price tag placed on his head by Kingpin, AKA Wilson Fisk. Frank is a former marine, and after seeing his own series on Netflix following his debut on Daredevil, we know he's harder to kill than an armored cockroach. His character raises the debate of gun violence in the context of corporal punishment, but here, he's without his vast array of pistols and assault rifles and must fight for his life with prison shanks and sharpened sticks.

1. Daredevil vs. Russian Human Traffickers (from Daredevil - 2015)
Netflix's Daredevil was the first superhero vehicle that I could really get into. The acting is stellar, the costumes are organic, and the fight scenes are gritty and believable. Daredevil, AKA Matt Murdoch, takes on more injuries than any other hero I've seen on the scene, which makes his portrayal all the more legitimate. He's still nursing his wounds here when he pulls back on his black outfit and takes on a band of Russian human traffickers in his native New York. He's hurt, but he fights hard and realistically, the epic scene shot all in own take. This is number one on this list because of its rawness and its commitment to authenticity. And also shows Daredevil's commitment to protecting the innocent, constantly placing himself in harm's way.