The female of the species is more deadlier than the male…

For a long time woman in cinema were only depicted as housewives and harlots. The second class citizen to the more dominating species. Some may even still argue that while we’ve certainly moved on since the days of old, female characters tend to be looked down upon. Absolute nonsense. There’s plenty of females out there who can and have hung with the best a man can offer. And if truth be told, there’s plenty that scare the living shit out of all of us…

5. Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss – The Matrix Trilogy)

Despite losing a fair amount of badass points as the trilogy progressed – on account of her love for Neo – Trinity pretty much stole the first movie. She’s mysterious, sexy and as we soon find out, very dangerous. Sure, it’s pretty evident that she’s a huge fan of Catwoman. Shiny black spandex onesie? Check. Long legs that appear from nowhere to kick you in the face? Check. Decent on a motorcycle? Check. Had the Wachowski’s not belittled her character by turning her into a love interest – no matter how important to the plot – she would most definitely be higher up the list.

4. Alice (Milla Jovovich – Resident Evil 1-5)

If the impending Zombie Apocalypse ever eventually happens then my first port of call will be to track down Milla Jovovich and demand she takes care of business. Based on the extremely popular and unequivocally violent video game, Resident Evil set the bar for the modern day zombie infested action horror genre. It may have sucked out all of its goodness by allowing so many sequels to happen – there’s a sixth on it’s way – but Jovovich’s Alice remains one of the top “don’t mess with me or I’ll rip you throat out in a heartbeat, I’ll even do it in slow motion” type of gal. It’s also pretty cool that she looks hot doing it.

3. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton – Terminator/Terminator 2: Judgement Day)

Hey, here’s a basic precedent in life, a protective mother is more scarier than any horror show your mind can imagine. Never has this been more evident than in Linda Hamilton’s creepy yet poignant performance as Sarah Connor in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. She’s barely recognisable in comparison to her big haired, soft spoken waitress from the first movie, but that’s exactly why it works. Arnie’s updated T-800 and John Connor may be our action heroes so to speak but Sarah Connor is our human connection to the story and Hamilton’s portrayal is pivotal in making the movie more than just a silly sci-fi action flick. She’s relentless. She’s almost made of iron. In the end she’s just a loving mother trying to protect her only son and she’s prepared to do anything for her cause.

2. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver – Alien/Aliens/Alien 3/Alien Resurrection)

Sigourney Weaver’s stint as Ripley in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror Alien unlocked the door for leading females everywhere, breaking a long monotonous mould and stringently challenging gender diversification in cinema. But it wasn’t until the sequel that followed seven years later that she truly got her acceptance and recognition, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as receiving a slew of other award nominations. And it’s also in Aliens were her character really becomes badass. Ditching the dark, tense, suspenseful horror aspects in favour of a more out and out action approach, Aliens transformed Ripley from the reluctant heroine to the mother of all ass-kickers.

1. Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman – Kill Bill Volume 1 & Volume 2)

Revenge is sweet, especially when you get to do it with a samurai sword and look like Bruce Lee from Game of Death (only way more sexier). Quentin Tarantino recruited old friend Uma Thurman for the role of a lifetime as The Bride who is left for dead but manages to stay alive just long enough to kill all of her former assassin cronies one by one in deadly – and typically Tarantino – over-the-top badass fashion. If you cross her she will kill you, simple as. But before she ends your life she will probably beat the absolutely crap out of you and make you admit your mistake. Definitely the baddest bitch on the (movie) planet. She may not have taken on zombies, aliens or killer time-travelling cyborgs but she did manage to take down the entire Crazy 88 clan all on her own in one of the most impressive and exhilarating fight scenes of all time.

Honorable mentions must go to Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow, Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit-Girl, Zhang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander and of course pretty much every single character that Michelle Rodriguez has played.

Think Mystique could kick Ripley’s ass? Wondering where the hell Lara Croft is at? Let me know who you think is the most badass leading female movie character. Take the poll below!

More Lists

Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter

Home