Hoffman List: Haywire & Mission Impossible 3

A couple great villain roles this time around.

—

Haywire (2012)

Starring:Ewan McGregor (with Gina Carano, Michael Fassbender, Charming Potato, and Michael Douglas)

McGregor’s Role: Bad boyfriend of the main character and *SPOILER* main villain.

Performance Grade: Hoff-win.

Review: Seeing Ewan McGregor play a bad guy, albeit a spindly sneaky type rather than a massive badass, is oddly exciting. I love him as the charming misguided type, but he plays hate-worthy dick quite well. The rest of the film is serviceable; action and fighting are surprisingly great, and most of the acting is top-notch, though star Carano’s obvious inexperience in the acting world makes her character feel a bit stilted.

Film Grade: A nerve-racking Haywire act.

Mission Impossible III (2006)

Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman (with Tom Cruise, Michelle Monaghan, Ving Rhames)

Hoffman’s Role: Cold-blooded bad guy Owen Davian.

Performance Grade: Hoff-win.

Review: If you’ve only ever seen P.S.H. in his more artsy roles, seeing him as one of the most straight-up evil villains in recent blockbusters can be jarring. His viciousness is matched only by his cleverness, which is much like the film itself. Despite a less than stellar pedigree, J.J. Abrams made a sequel that outguns its original.

Film Grade: Mission Thrill-possible