The action genre is a favorite among movie fans for its implementation of the classic hero versus villain dynamic, as well as explosive effects and over-the-top violence. Housing some of film’s greatest protagonists, the genre is also known for its creative and interesting foes. While most of these antagonists are men, there are plenty of female villains who pose a threat to the hero in their pursuit of justice.

Action movies have some of cinema’s most eccentric and creative villains, and this holds true of women in the genre as much as men. While female villains often have better representation in genres like science fiction and comedy, action has plenty of great women who stand on the side of crime and evil. From Russian femme fatales to ruthless crime bosses, they’re some of cinema’s most underrated characters.

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10

Elle Driver Was Bill’s Most Treacherous Killer

Kill Bill: Vol. 2

In the continuation of her relentless quest for vengeance, a former assassin tracks down the remaining members of the team that betrayed her. As she confronts her past, the narrative delves deeper into her complex relationship with her mentor and ex-lover, culminating in a dramatic confrontation that tests her limits of loyalty, love, and desire for revenge.

Release Date

April 16, 2004

Cast

Uma Thurman
, David Carradine
, Michael Madsen
, Daryl Hannah
, Vivica A. Fox
, Ambrosia Kelley
, Michael Parks
, James Parks

Runtime

137 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Producer

Production Company

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Kill Bill follows the quest for vengeance of its protagonist, the Bride, after she wakes up from a coma following the massacre of her wedding at the hands of her ex and mentor, Bill. Known for her eye patch and cold demeanor, Elle is first introduced to audiences when she visits the Bride in her coma, where she tries to poison her until Bill calls it off.

Where the other Deadly Vipers display some sense of regret over what they did to the Bride, Elle isn’t just unrepentant, she is also lacking honor, as seen by her willingness to kill the Bride in her sleep. Although she does punish Budd for the crime of not giving their enemy the death she deserved, her poisoning of Pai Mei shows she is the group’s most dishonorable and deceitful member. Of all of Bill’s assassins, Elle is the least trustworthy.

9

Xenia Onatopp Is The Quintessential Bond Femme Fatale

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Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as James Bond reached its peak in GoldenEye, where the master spy is pitted against his former teammate, Alec Trevelyan. Seeking revenge for the betrayal of his Russian family by the British government, the former 008 allies with Xenia Onatopp to take control of a secret space-based weapon, known as GoldenEye.

In the movie, Famke Janssen plays the Russian femme fatale, Onatopp, an assassin who uses her beauty to get close to prominent men, only to kill them. Xenia Onatopp stands out as one of the Bond franchise’s most memorable female villains, as well as the best “henchman” of the Brosnan era.

8

Lori Pulled Off The Ultimate Deception

Total Recall follows the story of Douglas Quaid, a construction worker in a future where humans have colonized Mars. When he visits a special virtual reality company that implants memories in people’s minds for a unique experience, Quaid learns that he’s already had memories suppressed — and that he was once a secret agent. When he returns home to his wife, he discovers that she is herself a spy — and her disguise to be his wife.

Lori wasn’t just a great villain in Total Recall, she’s arguably the best part of the 2012 remake, with Kate Beckinsale cast in the updated role. In both movies, she is a deadly spy, and poses a serious threat to Quaid, trying to convince him that his old life is nothing but a dream.

7

Mai Almost Killed John McClane

Die Hard

A New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.

Director

John McTiernan

Release Date

July 20, 1988

Studio

20th Century Fox

Cast

Bruce Willis
, Bonnie Bedelia
, Reginald VelJohnson
, Paul Gleason
, Alan Rickman
, William Atherton

Writers

Roderick Thorp
, Jeb Stuart
, Steven E. de Souza

Runtime

2 Hours 12 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Production Company

Twentieth Century Fox, Gordon Company, Silver Pictures

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The Die Hard franchise follows John McClane in a variety of intense action stories, from fighting thieves in Nakatomi Plaza to killing terrorists. The fourth movie follows a plot by a team of hackers to steal billions of dollars from the US government, which they throw into disarray by infiltrating their systems. The attack is orchestrated by Thomas Gabriel, a former government advisor left disgruntled by their refusal to heed his warnings. At his side is the deadly assassin, Mai.

Mai may not be a mastermind in Die Hard, but she is one of the film’s most ruthless characters and shows an impressive mastery of martial arts. In fact, when it comes to hand-to-hand combat with McClane, she comes closer than most to killing the franchise’s hero.

6

Poppy Adams Brought Society To Its Knees

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

After the Kingsman’s headquarters is destroyed and the world is held hostage, an allied spy organization in the United States is discovered. These two elite secret agencies must band together to defeat a common enemy.

Director

Matthew Vaughn

Release Date

September 22, 2017

Cast

Taron Egerton
, Colin Firth
, Mark Strong

Writers

Jane Goldman
, Matthew Vaughn
, Mark Millar

Runtime

2 Hours 21 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Producer

Adam Bohling, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn

Production Company

Twentieth Century Fox, Marv Films, Cloudy Productions, TSG Entertainment, Shangri-La Entertainment

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Kingsman: The Golden Circle picks up on the story of Eggsy and the Secret Service not long after the events of the first film. The plot revolves around the villainous crime boss Poppy Adams, who attempts to legalize the drug trade after spiking her supply with poison. Once activated, this poison paralyzes millions of users around the world, from regular working-class people to wealthy politicians and business leaders.

Poppy Adams had one of cinema’s more creative plans, one evocative of classic Bond villainy as she sought to effectively blackmail the world to gain power. With a penchant for 1950s culture and an army of henchmen at her disposal, she proved almost as tough as Valentine to defeat, and almost killed millions without firing a shot.

5

Rise Of The Machines Unveiled A New Terminator

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines continues the saga of John Connor and the Terminators. The film follows Connor, now a young man, as he lives his life on the road to avoid the machines, though is roped back in when a T-X is sent back to assassinate his future lieutenants. While on the run, he meets Kate Brewster, who the T-101 informs him is destined to become his wife. The trio takes to the road to escape the T-X, who ruthlessly pursues Connor across America, just as Skynet begins to come online.

The T-X, played by Kristanna Loken, manages to be one of the franchise’s most threatening villains, despite barely saying a word throughout the movie. She’s also the most impressive model of Terminator sent back, and gave Schwarzenegger’s T-101 the fight of his life, even successfully reprogramming him.

4

Hela Conquered Asgard Itself

Thor: Ragnarok picks up on the story of its titular Avenger in the aftermath of Civil War and Age of Ultron. The movie begins with Thor’s return to Asgard, where he discovers that Loki is impersonating Odin. When the brothers go to find their father, he says his final goodbye and dies in front of them. With his power no longer able to hold her back, Hela, Thor’s sister, breaks free from Odin’s prison. After destroying Thor’s hammer and sending him to another world, the villain begins her conquest of Asgard.

Hela makes for one of the MCU’s best villains and represents an unapologetically evil foe — something the franchise often lacks. The villain proved so destructive and powerful that nothing short of Ragnarok itself, and the destruction of Asgard, could stop her.

3

Katya Is A Silent Assassin

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Die Hard With A Vengeance continues the story of John McClane, now back in New York City and again estranged from Holly. When a terrorist known as Simon sets off a bomb in the city, he uses it to blackmail McClane into almost getting himself killed in Harlem by wearing a racist sign in the street. There, the cop meets a local business owner, Zeus, who gets roped into Simon’s game. After setting off a second bomb in the subway, Simon gets the city’s cops on a wild goose chase and sets his sights on the Federal Reserve’s gold storage. There, he is joined by a deadly assassin, Katya.

Katya establishes herself as one of the film’s biggest threats from her introduction when she sneaks into the Federal Reserve and cuts the throat of a guard. From there, she betrays her partner and aids Simon — later identified as Hans Gruber’s brother, Peter — in his epic heist.

2

Ma-Ma Is A Ruthless Crime Boss

Dredd

In a violent, futuristic city where the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner, a cop teams with a trainee to take down a gang that deals the reality-altering drug, SLO-MO.

Director

Pete Travis

Release Date

September 21, 2012

Cast

Karl Urban
, Olivia Thirlby
, Lena Headey

Writers

John Wagner
, Carlos Ezquerra
, Alex Garland

Runtime

1 Hour 35 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Production Company

DNA Films, Peach Trees, Rena Films

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In the 2012 reboot of Dredd, Judge Dredd made a cinematic comeback in a done-in-one case that sent him to the mega block Peach Trees, to investigate a triple homicide. After arriving, he and Judge Anderson were made public enemy number one by the building’s tyrannical crime lord, Ma-Ma. Previously a prostitute, she rose to her status after forming the Ma-Ma Clan, and monopolized the building’s criminal enterprises to sell the drug Slo-Mo to the city.

Ma-Ma controls Peach Trees with an iron fist, using extreme violence to keep the building’s residents, as well as her gang, in line. As Dredd and Anderson fight their way through the Ma-Ma Clan, she takes a hands-on approach, later resorting to bringing in some corrupt Judges to assist her. In the final scenes, she even shows that she’s willing to destroy the building just to stay alive.

1

O-Ren Ishii Gave The Bride Her Best Fight

Kill Bill: Vol. 2

In the continuation of her relentless quest for vengeance, a former assassin tracks down the remaining members of the team that betrayed her. As she confronts her past, the narrative delves deeper into her complex relationship with her mentor and ex-lover, culminating in a dramatic confrontation that tests her limits of loyalty, love, and desire for revenge.

Release Date

April 16, 2004

Cast

Uma Thurman
, David Carradine
, Michael Madsen
, Daryl Hannah
, Vivica A. Fox
, Ambrosia Kelley
, Michael Parks
, James Parks

Runtime

137 Minutes

Main Genre

Action

Producer

Production Company

Expand

In Kill Bill, The Bride’s quest for vengeance after waking up from her coma began (chronologically) with her confrontation with O-Ren Ishii, a tragic villain born out of violence. Despite her half-Chinese heritage and American background, O-Ren managed to consolidate the criminal enterprises of Tokyo, using displays of violence to maintain fear and respect from her subordinates.

O-Ren Ishii and her Crazy 88 make for the Bride’s greatest fight in the entire two-part saga, with the protagonist tearing her way through the assassins to face their leader. While she proves herself a cunning warrior and the Bride’s greatest match, O-Ren’s sympathetic backstory and resolve are what make her the best villain of the film.