60 Kick-Ass Female Film Characters – Part IX

There’s a deep moral message somewhere in the deep dark notion that if we are good to each other, look out for one another, we may well have to embark on all manner of troublesome, melancholic occurrences to get there. Cruel, I know. Some may even die trying. Some left exhausted, or grieving. Some glorious, or victorious. Whether it be going out of your way to support a friend in need, driven by fierce emotion, or inflict violence or physical force as a way to protect a community, or struggle to uphold companionship, means, your family’s class obsessions, during tough times.

Constance Miller – – – McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

The savviest person in the town of Presbyterian Church is cockney brothel madam, Constance Miller, and it is she who unlocks for John McCabe the inevitable fate of the town’s businesses at the hands of big business capitalism. “Zinc,” she says succinctly, hairpin between her teeth. Mrs. Miller neither minces her words nor suffers fools in her attempt to care for her girls or run her business. She’s the brains and backbone behind lover John McCabe first in his business venture and, ultimately, his very survival.

The corporate machine proves too much for them, of course, and the last shot in the film focuses on her opiated eye, but up to that point, Constance Miller is a force of business acumen and compassion. Julie Christie is one of the many delights in Robert Altman’s perfect answer to both the Hollywood western and the American Dream. Her Mrs. Miller stands as one of her finest roles. – – – Steve Schweighofer

Leeloo – – – The Fifth Element (1997)

Leeloo, the unpredictable, the unaware, took Milla Jovovich’s stardom to a new dimension. Be it the orange hair, the crash through a taxi cab roof, her nude creation, or her survival instincts and kick-ass mentality. You pick one. Luc Besson’s pulsating, very strange, science fiction film demonstrates the film-maker’s energetic portrayal of female characters with real fight and bite (two more to come in the final part don’t you know).

Leeloo in The Fifth Element is unknowingly integral to the survival of planet Earth, teaming up with Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), a former member of the special forces, who now rides taxis through the sky (this is 2263 after all). Not only can Leeloo knock a bunch of Mangalores into orbit, she also becomes the focal point of Dallas’ affections – which, like many a classic tale of good over evil, proves extremely useful for the world’s survival.  – – – Robin Write

Murph – – – Interstellar (2014)

Murphy (Interstellar): In a film riddled with uncertainty about the complex stability of the universe, Murph is both the reliable constant of fresh insight and the ultimate saviour of the human race. Murph doesn’t just pursue science because her father supported and inspired her so much (great work by the way, Coop) she reshapes science as we know it – or at least, science in the world of the film.

Let’s remember that her main responsibility was to solve the formula for gravity, not to execute everything else in the plan to save the remaining inhabitants of earth too. So really Interstellar should focus on Murph’s achievements rather than her dad’s, because she was smart enough to realise the secret to solving all our problems was right there in the dust heaps of her childhood bedroom all along. – – – Rhiannon Topham

Sydney Prescott – – – Scream (1996)

Ghostface: “Do you like scary movies?”  Sidney: “What’s the point? They’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It’s insulting.” This begins to sum up why Sidney Prescott is kick-ass and just awesome. She’s smart, and sets herself up to be the kind of character you like and want to root for.

Throughout Scream, Sidney has to deal with stupid, angry, and eventually crazy people, and she does it with class and ease.  The fact that her own boyfriend turns out to be a serial killer would for most people stop them in their place, but with Sidney, she just turns it around and handles the situation like a boss. When she point the gun you know she knows what she’s doing, and she to be able to shoot without hesitation is an honorable quality in a horror movie heroine. – – – Al Robinson

Mako Mori – – – Pacific Rim (2014)

After seeing the young Japanese actress’s turn as a deaf-mute high school student struggling with the suicide of her mother in Babel, I’ve been closely anticipating what Rinko Kikuichi would do next. It would come seven year later in the form of a rookie pilot siding with washed-up veteran Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam) as the pair battle giant underwater monsters in Guillermo del Toro’s homage to mecha anime and monster films.

Mako’s title might be director of refurbishing the remaining Jager robots, but inside she’s a fierce warrior looking for a chance to exact revenge on the Kaiju that took her family away from her when she was little, which she does as she and Becket slice through two Kaiju in the film’s middle act, and venture inside the belly of the beast of the enemy home world in the climax. – – – Jonathan Holmes

 Joan Crawford – – – Mommie Dearest (1981)

There is no question that it’s high camp. Yes, it won the Razzie. Some claim that it stalled Faye Dunaway’s career high, but say what you will, there’s no denying the effort, passion and raw skill that la Dunaway summoned to bring life to the dark side of Hollywood legend and self-made commodity, Joan Crawford.

In the film’s most intense moments, Faye digs deep and exposes emotions few actors would dare go near, sending bathroom cleaning powder and, yes, hangers in all directions. Dunaway vividly conveys Crawford’s need for control over every detail of her manufactured life. Given her preceding reputation for being “difficult” on set, one can assume that much of the crew likely qualified for Purple Hearts, but to watch the resulting performance is a fascinating and truly cathartic experience. – – – Steve Schwieghofer