Danny Trejo, who is one of those actors who seems to exude an air of badassery, hit our screens recently with Bullet, a tale of a tough-as-nails cop hunting down the villains who kidnapped his grandson.
In everything from Desperado, through Con Air and Machete, Trejo’s characters seem to very much be those one would be ill-advised to mess with and Bullet’s tagline “this time they messed with the wrong guy” promises more of the same. Which segues quite nicely into this Top Ten of cinemas Badasses – those characters you just need to steer clear of, lest they decide to turn on you.
Most are notional protagonists, with a smattering of anti-heroes and the odd “bad guy” to round off the set – but none are to be trifled with. Here we go…………. (SPOILERS ABOUND)
10. Snake Plissken – Escape from New York
An eye patch, a surly attitude and a general disregard for authority. Kurt Russell has arguably never given us so iconic a character as Plissken, sent into the maximum security prison that used to be Manhattan Island after the President crash-lands there. Wandering around a prison full of desperate criminals with no hope of escape (or much else either) is not for the faint-hearted and Plissken seems to be wholly lacking in fear or trepidation.
He is no fool, mind. He recognises the danger of his mission and fully expects to be shafted by the authorities even if he succeeds in his thankless mission, but here is a tough as boots antihero, snarling and growling his way through a whole city full of threat and menace.
Most Bad-Ass Moment – The nails-in-baseball-bats fight. Apparently embedding said nails in someone’s head essentially means fight over, even if they’ve got more hair on their back than on their head. Eeww.
