The Joker, Bane and Batman are not just my favorite characters (Top Ten Dark Knight Legend Characters) in my favorite film, The Dark Knight Legend (or Trilogy if that tastes better going down). They’re also my favorite characters in all of movies (Top Ten Movie Characters). I’ve already made lists dedicated to my favorite quotes from The Joker and Bane (Top Ten Joker Quotes, Top Ten Bane Quotes) so I thought, why not? Due to a collaboration between two of the greatest artists working in film, Nolan and Bale, this icon has been established as one of the greatest characters in history. Batman is an inspirational and legendary hero who, through trials and tribulations, has become a defiant symbol for hope and all that is good. These are his best quotes…
10. “Bats frighten me. It’s time my enemies share my dread.”
9. “Perhaps the knife was too slow.”
8. “Tell me where the trigger is, then you have my permission to die.”
7. “You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen. Because sometimes truth isn’t good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.”
6. “People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man I’m flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed, but as a symbol, as a symbol I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.”
5. “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.”
4. “I’m whatever Gotham needs me to be.”
3. “Not everything. Not yet.”
2. “I won’t kill you, but I don’t I have to save you.”
1. “A hero can be anyone, even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat on a young boy’s shoulders to let him know the world hadn’t ended.”
It’s no wonder I’m making this list, how could I not? Movie characters are my bread and butter. I love movies and without the the heart and soul of a movie’s characters, a movie would be nothing. This is my list and homage made for the greatest characters in film. It was one of the hardest I’v ever felt the need to make. Awhile ago I made a Top 50 regarding this theme, but things have changed and I wanted to make a new and definitive “Top Ten Movie Characters” list. Before I get into it, here are the four lists I made prior that helped in the creation of this list…
When I say Kikuchiyo I mean Kikuchiyo as he is my favorite of the seven samurai who, for nothing, band together to protect a helpless village of farmers from ruthless bandits. However, I think if any one of these seven brave and powerful warriors is mentioned you have to at least mention the rest and all their heroism. Each samurai is unique in their own way, but there’s a special oddity that is the seventh samurai. He’s a confident and savage warrior and like any other samurai he’s wandered and seen the world. Unlike many samurai he doesn’t wearily look at the world with tired eyes, he looks at the world and laughs because what else can you do?
9. Django (Django Unchained)
In most westerns you’ll find mysterious or violent antiheroes, but in Quentin Tarantino spaghetti southern you’ll find one of the greatest heroes in film. Django is a freed slave who sets out with his new found friend, Dr. King Schultz, to rescue his love from an evil plantation owner. As his journey progresses, Django establishes himself as a mighty warrior, a mythical avenger against the savagery of slavery in this fairy tale of a western. Django is just the epitome of cool, a badass who you want to stand up and cheer for.
8. William Munny (Unforgiven)
William Munny is an old western legend. He’s a vicious and feared killer, but he “ain’t like that no more.” He’s a good man and a loyal husband and father. His days of blood and gun fights took place long ago, but a life so grisly is hard to escape. In a world ruled by lawlessness and violence how else is a once dead-eyed killer to react to the brutality of it all. There’s no room for good men in the desolate west.”We all have it com in’ kid.” Can a cold-hearted killer be a good man?
7. Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
“I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.” There Will Be Blood examines the idea of the American nightmare and it does so through a character study of Daniel Plainview. Daniel Plainview is driven by greed, consumption and hatred. He’s a despicable basterd who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. What he wants more than anything is to be alone. It can never be denied that there are bad people in the world. There Will Be Blood tells a poetic and powerful story of one such man.
6. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
Tyler Durden is a symbol for anarachy. He’s in a constant battle with conformity and all that is normal. It has been cited that Heath Ledger’s Joker is chaos, but The Joker is evil through and through. Tyler Durden isn’t good or evil, he is the personification of chaos. He was born out of a bored generation, but he won’t be white collar slave. There’s a Tyler Durden in all of us who every once and a while has an understandable need to fight against the grain. Anyone who tries to ignore that fact or impulse could just as easily go insane.
5. Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men)
No Country for Old Men is poetic magnum opus of morality and violence created by some of the greatest filmmakers to have ever graced the screen with art, the Coen Brothers. The villain of this blood-soaked tale could be looked at as death incarnate. Anton Chigurh is a heartless killer. He would sooner murder a person than hug them. He’s calm, he’s collected, he’s efficient, he’s disciplined, he’s intuitive, he’s soulless and he can’t be stopped. This theme of unrelenting malevolence is at the heart the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece.
4. Col. Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds)
Col. Hans Landa, otherwise known as The Jew Hunter, is something far worse than a high ranking officer of the Third Reich. He’s crafty detective who is as wise as he is evil. He does the things he does for his own gain. He’s not a nazi officer because he believes Adolf Hitler’s poisonous lies. He’s efficient at hunting Jews because for the time being it’s in his best interest. Once the situation changes, the slimy basterd will do what he has to in order to insure his own survival even if that means the betrayal of his country. There’s a certain charm and eloquence to him, but at the same time he just oozes wickedness.
3. Bane (The Dark Knight Rises)
Bane is the most formidable opponent imaginable. He is the personification of despair to Batman’s hope in The Dark Knight Rises. The animosity that grows between these men is just breathtaking. “Let’s not stand on ceremony here, Mr. Wayne.” Bane understands their relationship before even the detective, Batman, does. They belong in the battlefield, not sharing pleasantries from across the room. One will triumph over the other and in the end, nothing will matter more to Bane than accomplishing that goal.
In order to feed the people of Gotham hope to “poison their souls”, Bane rebels for the oppressed and against corruption in Gotham. He’s a revolutionary tyrant, he’s his own General and he’s his own greatest soldier. His true agenda is the torture and destruction of Batman and everything he loves. In the end, we find that part of the beauty to Bane, as one of the greatest villains and characters ever created, is in the way that everything this monster of man has done has been for love.
2. Batman (The Dark Knight Legend)
The icon that is Batman is the greatest hero ever created in story and the realistic adaption of Batman in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Legend (or Trilogy if that tastes better going down) makes for one of the greatest characters of all time. In what is the greatest story ever told we watch as three tales unfold charting the growth of the greatest hero to have ever existed. Batman Begins is the perfect hero’s journey as we see exactly how a man became the hero, Batman. In The Dark Knight Batman must become the pure good to The Joker’s pure evil In The Dark Knight Rises, we see the solidification of a legend as a weathered Bruce Wayne must dawn the cape and cowl once again to triumph over utter despair. Batman is the greatest hero ever crafted in a story.
1. The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Movies would be nothing without villains. It could be argued more so that movies would be nothing without conflict, but villains are just conflict personified. I placed four movie villains on this list and they all made it into the top 5. I couldn’t help myself. Villains make for some of the best characters and the best villain and character in film can be found in The Dark Knight. The villain in The Dark Knight and the antithesis to Batman is The Joker.
The Joker is colorful while Batman is black, The Joker wears make up while Batman wears a mask, The Joker is killer while Batman is a savior, The Joker is a villain while Batman is a hero, but most importantly The Joker is symbol for evil while Batman is a symbol for good. You’ll not find a character as purely evil as The Joker. Whereas Batman is good for the sake of being good, The Joker is evil for the sake of being evil.
The Joker is completely lacking in motives, plans and empathy. He’s just one of those rare men who “want to watch the world burn.” He is a twisted and sadistic force for malevolence who would literally die laughing for all that is evil. Due to a flawless utilization of the character by director Christopher Nolan and the greatest performance of all time (portrayed to perfection by the late-great Heath Ledger), The Dark Knight’s Joker is a legendary character that won’t soon be forgot. The Joker isn’t just the greatest character in movies, The Joker is the greatest character stories have ever had to offer.
Looper is an imaginative and bleak film centering around a hit man who kills people from the future. These type of hit men are called loopers and this is because when the time comes each looper must be responsible for “closing the loop” when their future-self is zapped back to them. The conflict of Looper comes in the form of protagonist Joe’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) older self (Bruce Willis) being zapped back to 2044 and escaping.
Looper offers a lot of fresh and original ideas, but where it excels is in its fresh and original storytelling. Looper wasn’t just a good idea. Due to a utilization of its ideas and characters Looper was a flawless piece of art. I could expect nothing less from its creator, director Rian Johnson. Johnson was the director of only two films prior to Looper, The Brothers Bloom and his debut film, Brick. I loved both of them and subsequently I’ve been looking forward to Looper for a while now.
Looper is Rian Johnson’s best film and that’s coming from somebody who could easily call Brick a masterpiece. All three of the films Johnson has made are entirely unique. Stylistically, tonally, execution, you name it, all three of them are just very different films and on top of that, each of them are great in their own way. Looper stands above the pack as film masquerading as a dark and enthralling science fiction film when in reality it’s more importantly a human drama filled with complexities and violence.
Looper was a very entertaining film. There wasn’t a time when I was watching the film and not enjoying myself, it was fun and it’s a movie I see myself watching again and again. Looking layers deep, while Looper is completely entertaining, it is also a very dark and serious drama that takes on some very broad and insightful ideas. It’s a movie about time-travel, it’s a movie about death, it’s a movie about living and what that entails, it’s a movie about conscience, but most of all it’s a movie about decisions and the impact those decisions can have.
I loved Looper and I can’t wait to see it again. I loved the dialogue and the action. I loved each character and what they added to the overall drama of it all. There’s always such creativity to both the stories Rian Johnson tells and the way Rian Johnson tells them. He proofs that again here with his greatest feat yet. Looper is a masterpiece through and through.
The art of performance is an art form that’s hard not to find an appreciation for if you love movies. As a result of this appreciation, this is a list that has been in the works for a very long time. To preface this list of the people I consider the greatest actors in existence I’d like to make a few things clear. This is a list of actors that are all around the greatest performers, but it’s also a list of actors whom, on a personal level, I just enjoy watching. Along with the names of my favorite actors I’ve also listed three films in front of each actor. I want to make it apparent that these three films aren’t necessarily the three best films to come out of that actor’s career, it’s a list of that actor’s three best performances. This is a broad list so I’d like to start with a list of Honorable Mention (in no particular order).
Honorables
Brad Pitt
Edward Norton
Jim Carrey
Jeff Bridges
Joaquin Phoenix
Ralph Fiennes
Kevin Spacey
Liam Neeson
Philip Seymour Hoffman
George C. Scott
Marlon Brando
Leonardo DiCaprio
Anthony Hopkins
Clint Eastwood
Morgan Freeman
And here we go…
10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Most, if not all, will be surprised to find actors like Morgan Freeman, Marlon Brando, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kevin Spacey and Brad Pitt on a list of Honorable Mention while Joseph Gordon-Levitt is right here at number 10. There’s never a need to justify or rationalize one’s opinions when it comes to discussing something as subjective as film. I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s aura of charisma any time he’s on screen. He knows how to do what he does and he does it perfectly. I respect him a lot.
3. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Brick
1. Looper
9. Robert De Niro
This list would be incomplete without the great Robert De Niro. He deserves every ounce of praise he gets for any role he plays. There is certainly an intensity to the way he becomes engrossed in his characters and like any brilliant actor, he really does have such a broad range. Whether he’s playing the awkward and psychotic Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver or the calm and collected crook in Heat, he always manages to put a very raw touch on any performance. The industry wouldn’t be the same without him.
3. Taxi Driver
2. The Deer Hunter
1. Raging Bull
8. Michael Fassbender
Whether he’s playing a robot or even the main character in an X-Men movie, Michael Fassbender always has such a powerful presence. He first caught my attention when I saw him in Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, Inglourious Basterds. He didn’t play a huge part in the story, but couldn’t help but command the screen. He has such a naturalism to the way he acts making every single one of his actions feel completely real. If you want to watch truly flawless performing watch Michael Fassbender become his character in Shame.
3. Inglourious Basterds
2. Prometheus
1. Shame
7. Tom Hardy
Its slowly starting to be realized by all with each movie he’s a part of, but Tom Hardy is a truly masterful actor. Its a sight to behold anytime he acts. He makes such lucid choices and stays absolutely consistent. Any character he plays becomes so ridiculously defined due to his flawless work as an emotive performer. At this point I can expect nothing less than greatness anytime he chooses to act in a film. It’s always enjoyable to watch him do what he does regardless of the part, be it a charismatic action hero or a feral and emotionless monster of a man.
3. Warrior
2. Bronson
1. The Dark Knight Rises
6. Al Pacino
I feel as though there’s an unspoken competition when it comes to the legendary actors, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. I would have to go with Al Pacino. Every character he plays is made so intensely human due to a dedication to his work. Realism is what it seems to be about with Pacino. Whether he’s chewing apart the screen in Scent of a Woman or playing a more cool-headed ex-con in Carlito’s Way, with confidence he always manages to bring out the humanity in the men he becomes. Al Pacino is a true master at what he does.
3. Insomnia
2. Dog Day Afternoon
1. The Godfather (Part I + II)
5. Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman is a brilliant character actor who is more than capable of playing the leading man as he sees fit. He has one of the widest ranges of any actor who has ever performed. He can play a ferocious villain in an action movie such as Air Force One and he has the ability to play a more subdued protagonist in a complex drama like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. With maturity and grace, Oldman makes everything he does so completely memorable. Gary Oldman is still working today, but he’s already left such a lasting and magnificent legacy with the fascinating ways he takes on the vibrant characters he plays.
3. The Professional
2. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
1. The Dark Knight Legend
4. Jack Nicholson
Ever since I fell in love with the art of film, I’ve always considered Jack Nicholson one of my favorite actors. It’s hard not to love the actor when you look at his track record. He is extraordinary, that’s all there is to it. Due to his work as a magnificent performer he is partly responsible for some of the masterpieces fundamental to the progression of cinema. He’s always having fun just doing exactly what he does best, perform flawlessly. Jack makes you feel it no matter what it is. When he laughs, yells, cries, breathes, it’s not him, it’s his character. Jack Nicholson is an incredible artist and one of the best there is.
3. The Departed
2. The Shining
1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
3. Christian Bale
There is something so miraculous to the way Christian Bale completely throws himself in his roles. Regardless of the character, he makes you believe it. As Batman he’s heroic, as Patrick Bateman he’s psychotic, as Dicky Eklund he’s pathetic, as Alfred Borden he’s enigmatic and I could easily go on. It’s as if he just has some kind of vast knowledge on exactly how to tap into the mind and shoes of the characters he portrays. Christian Bale defines a generation of actors who have learned a lot from a long, long history of film and excels because of that knowledge.
3. The Fighter
2. American Psycho
1. The Dark Knight Legend
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis is a phenomenal artist and the greatest actor working today. He is incredibly deliberate in the choices he makes and I don’t just mean in the ways he chooses to portray a character, but also in the characters he chooses to play. He’s touched on such a broad spectrum of emotions and he does so flawlessly. No one does it the way Daniel Day-Lewis does it. You want to talk about intensity in performance, just watch him tear through the scenery as the violent villain, Bill “The Butcher” Cutting in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York. Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is coming soon and I just can’t wait to see what Day-Lewis does with it.
Daniel Day-Lewis blows me away any time he takes on a performance, but it’s in There Will Be Blood where he really hits his stride and shows just how extraordinary a performance can be. Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is an epic character study about consumption, greed and the American nightmare. At the heart of the film is the complex and depraved oilman, Daniel Plainview. Rarely does the film have a scene without its black-hearted protagonist. It’s one of the juiciest roles in all of film and as always, with precision and dominance, Daniel Day-Lewis plays the character to perfection.
3. Gangs of New York
2. Lincoln
1. There Will Be Blood
1. Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger is the greatest artist to have ever acted in film and its a shame to think about what could’ve been. The Australian actor was only 28-years-old when he passed away and all we have of him is an enigmatic and extraordinary career that was tragically cut very short. Even since a very young age, Heath showed great promise when he took on any role. No matter what it was, be it an rollicking adventure movie like A Knight’s Tale or a serious drama like The Patriot, Heath Ledger showed more than potential to be one of the greats.
A turning point that marked the career of a mature and defiant actor was Heath Ledger’s performance of Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. This was a role that needed a powerful and honest performance and Heath Ledger responded with a portrayal that exceeded those necessities. Heath Ledger is an extraordinary actor who never needed to prove anything, but if he did, he proves it here. You’d be hard-pressed to find other performances that are as touching and real.
Heath Ledger is the kind of actor who just seems to have fun with whatever he’s doing. He loves doing what he does and just happens to be the best at what he does. Never did he have more fun with a role than when he gave not only the greatest performance of his career, but the greatest performance in the history of film. In The Dark Knight, Ledger was universally praised for his realistic portrayal of one of the most iconic villains in the history of stories. In The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger crafted the greatest character in film, which is in part due to a landmark performance that cements Heath Ledger as the greatest actor to have ever performed.
Normally when it comes to a movie as broad, brilliant and enveloping as The Master, it takes me multiple viewings to really appreciate exactly how extraordinary that which has been bestowed before me actually is. Every passing moment of The Master just served as a reminder of its overall excellence. As I sat and watched this film it was hard not to realize that what I was watching was nothing short of a modern masterpiece.
The Master is just a prime example of a movie that gets everything right. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever existed and he proves that here again with his sixth film. Since his creation of the epic that is Boogie Nights, Anderson has turned out nothing but masterpieces. The Master is just another Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece that was completely captivating during every single solitary second of the film.
As with all Paul Thomas Anderson movies, there is no shot out of place. He has such a grace to the way he makes film and with There Will Be Blood and The Master, it seems that Anderson has really come into his own as the masterful storyteller he is. Every single dynamic shot is just breathtaking to look at. There is such purpose to every choice Anderson makes. He knows his characters and his vision and with confidence he just does what he does best and tells a story.
The Master tells a mesmerizing and honest tale about the relationship between two men, Freddie Quell and Lancaster Dodd. Freddie is quite the peculiar character. He’s a drifter and a follower. He’s a confused man who acts on impulse and he sticks to what he knows; fighting, drinking, sex and the sea. He’s finding his way in a post-war world, which leads to a chance meeting with one Lancaster Dodd. Dodd is a leader. Quite literally, he is the “master” of his very own religious following entitled The Cause. Unlike Freddie Quell, Lancaster Dodd is very confident and sure of himself. He is the kind of man who people listen to, whereas Quell is the kind of man who listens. The relationship of these two men is at the heart of this extraordinary drama about choice and control.
The two men are completely different characters and both are played to perfection. From the moment you meet Lancaster, there’s just this enigmatic aura to him. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it so the character seems important and every line he utters is just another testament to his patience, power and importance. It’s rare for the film to have a scene without its troubled protagonist Freddie Quell and Joaquin Phoenix just became his character. The confused drifter is so incredibly defined through writing and the greatest performance of an amazing actor’s career.
Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest directors to have ever made a film and it’s an honor just to watch one of his movies because he really puts his all in it. The Master is his latest masterpiece and with each of his new masterpieces, he brings something new and spectacularly special to the table. He wouldn’t make a movie if he didn’t have something to say and with The Master he says a lot. It’s a film that spoke to me instantly and as I said before, such a beautiful piece of art must be appreciated overtime. I look forward to doing just that, but for now I can call it what it is, a masterpiece.
A large part of what makes Breaking Bad the masterpiece that it is, are its vibrant and vastly explored characters. No matter how grim, gritty and depraved the tale at hand gets, Breaking Bad is a story that feels real and that’s because of how defined and human all of these characters feel. This list discusses the characters of Breaking Bad and the impact they’ve made to one of the greatest stories ever told. Also, just for fun… Top 25 Breaking Bad Episodes 10. Hector Salamanca In an episode entitled “Grilled”, the ruthless Mexican Cartel member Hector Salamanca makes his incredibly memorable first appearance. “Grilled” is an intense episode in which our protagonists attempt to get out of the hands of the rabid dog and distributor that is Tuco Salamanca. Their plot to kill him keeps getting thwarted by Hector Salamanca with just the sound of a bell. I never thought I’d see him again, but he had a much larger part to play. 9. Walter Jr. The beauty of Walter Jr. as a character is in his innocence. He is the most innocent of all the characters in Breaking Bad and the idol and “hero” in his life is of course his father. Any time he sees his father he’ll play his part in their father-son routine completely oblivious to how depraved this man is who he’s hugging. Walter White is a good father, he truly is and Walter Jr. is a good kid because of that fact. One has to wonder what Junior would do if he knew all of Walt’s secrets. 8. Jane Margolis Jane Margolis is a character only featured in Season 2, but she has always cast a pretty twisted shadow over the relationship between our two main characters, Walter White and Jesse Pinkman. In the beginning of Season 2, she is introduced as a very likable character who develops into the perfectly lovable girlfriend of Jesse Pinkman. No still in Season 5 it is unbeknownst to Jesse that his partner, “Mr. White”, did nothing and was in the room when she horrifically choked on her own vomit. 7. Skyler White Because of how much I enjoy Walter White’s journey and the choices he makes (I know they’re bad choices), it’s hard to like Skyler and the way she treats her husband who in the beginning was seemingly just trying to provide for his family. Like all Breaking Bad characters, Skyler White is completely believable and perfectly executed. She fought it all she could, but was eventually pulled into the dark world of Walter White only to find the truth that her husband will never again be the man he was. 6. Saul Goodman Behind almost every dirty-dealing or every hump that Walter White and Jesse Pinkman have to get over, there is their lawyer Saul Goodman. Goodman just oozes of sleaze and greed. He is a well payed partner to our protagonists and he comes in handy often when Walt and Jesse get into some of the sticky situations they get into. Like most Breaking Bad characters, he’s not a very good person, but it’s hard not have a little fun when Saul Goodman makes an appearance while he can be a little bit of an annoyance, he’s pretty hilarious and quite the character. 5. Gustavo Fring Though Walter White has become quite the villain, he is the protagonist of the story and if you’re looking for an antagonist of the story look no further than one Gustavo Fring. Gus Fring is a brilliant criminal in his professionalism. Above all he is a businessman, but he is a king of a dark criminal empire so naturally when violent measures have to be taken he takes them with intense grace. Those are just the kinds of measures that have to be taken when Walter White is in the picture. Gus is a villain, he’s a criminal, but with him it’s all business. He does what he does when it needs to be done and his business runs like clockwork because of that fact. 4. Hank Schrader If you’re looking for a hero in this grim tale of crime, change and choices you’ll find him in DEA Agent Hank Schrader. Hank is a man’s man. He’s constantly joking, laughing, making rude comments and catching bad guys. The only person he can bare his true soul to is his neurotic, yet completely loving wife Marie. He’s a loving husband and a truly extraordinary policeman. There is never a question of his heroism in the way that his character has become defined by his dedication to the capture of a rising criminal mastermind by the name of Heisenberg. 3. Mike Ehrmantraut Mike Ehrmantraut is a cool, calculating, silent and dead-eyed professional. He’s been around and he sees the world for what it is. He’s an outlaw and it’s as if he’s been plucked right out of a classic Sergio Leone western. He fits right into this gritty world of lawlessness. Unlike the prideful, controlling and despicable Walter White, Mike Ehrmantraut does what he does for one reason, so he can provide. There’s an aura of mystery to Mike and his past life that somehow made him the intelligent criminal and killer that he is, but at the end of the day what he does is for the security and future of his granddaughter. Mike Ehrmantraut threatens, he kills, he enforces, he steals, he’s a criminal and he’s good at what he does. I’ve always had a soft spot for Mike ever since the classic “half measure” scene and his poetic death at the end of my favorite episode thus far in the series is just a punctuation point to this perfect character. 2. Jesse Pinkman Jesse Pinkman is the heart of the entire beautifully dark story arc that is Breaking Bad. In the beginning he almost seemed like just a necessary annoyance who only served to offer a way into the drug world for our protagonist Walter White. The chemistry teacher turned meth dealer attempting to provide for his family needed an entrance and found the perfect one in the total screw-up drug dealer and former student Jesse Pinkman. As Walter White has become more consumed by the power, control and depravity of the man he has become Jesse is just dragged deeper and deeper into incredibly dark territory. Jesse has just always been there and as the layers become unraveled and Walter White becomes more and more malevolent it’s hard not to recognize the heart this kid who just made some bad decisions actually has. 1. Walter White If I could describe the masterpiece that is Breaking Bad in a single word that word would be change. This idea of change is personified in the greatest character arc ever filmed. There is a lot to Breaking Bad, but the driving force of the entire story is a character study and transformation of one normal man becoming (or rather, breaking) bad. The Walter White we met in Season 1 is not the Walter White we know in Season 5. He was a good man with a normal job, wife and kids and now he has become a criminal mastermind in every sense of the description and a very bad man. He is a ruthless, conniving, vindictive king whose rise to power has left many lives in his wake. “Never give up control. Live life on your own terms.” The average person would be astounded as to what soulless lengths Walter White will go to maintain his power and control. Breaking Bad is grim, raw and real and every choice Walt makes is made believable through flawless writing, direction and one of the greatest performances of all time from a masterful actor. Walter White is a depraved liar and he can rationalize his actions all he wants, but he loves who he’s become and he loves that he has his hands on the wheel as he drives down this dark, dark winding road. The fact that there are bad people in the world can not be ignored and for this character to be examined so thoroughly is absolutely thrilling. Breaking Bad is one of the greatest stories ever told and its main character is nothing short of one of the greatest characters in existence.
Movies-Films-MotionPictures 