60 Kick-Ass Female Film Characters – Part V

Although we ought to have a good selection of those female characters that literally kick ass (or punch faces, shoot guns, leap from buildings, kill monsters etc etc), we also dive a little deeper, and dig out those characters that define Kick-Ass in other familiar ways.

Mrs. Robinson – – – The Graduate (1967)

“What’s that you say, Mrs Robinson?” Even though we never learn her first name, few film characters have had the cultural impact as Anne Bancroft’s icy, determined predator armed with a cigarette holder, martini glass and minimal conversation. An old family friend and wife to Mr Braddock’s business partner, it’s as though she’s laid in wait for Benjamin to grow into prey ripe for the picking. When Benjamin takes a shine to her daughter, however, everything goes off the rails. Bancroft takes command of every scene in which she appears, always dominant, sounding matter-of-fact, even slightly bored by the whole ordeal that is Benjamin twisting in his dilemma.

In Bancroft’s hands, Mrs. Robinson is not a soulless villain, however – we catch flashes of emptiness and longing, even of her protective maternal instincts. Ultimately, it is hypocrisy that undoes Benjamin’s trust in his parents’ world and his charted path, and Mrs Robinson’s hypocrisy that lights the fuse of his final rebellion. – – – Steve Schweighofer

Amber – – – Green Room (2016)

You shouldn’t like a young white supremacist such as Amber, but by the end of the film, after she’s killed off a bunch of neo-Nazis and their flesh-eating dogs and escaped severely injured but still alive, you kind of do. Amber is an interesting character because if she hadn’t found herself trapped in the titular green room with the band, she probably would’ve been trying to wipe them out too.

But because things didn’t turn out as expected, she’s coaxed into forging a union with them for the sake of survival, and so in herself represents the fluidity of human behaviour. Surprisingly, she becomes one of the heroes of the film not because she drastically develops a moral conscience, but simply because she’s the best of a bad bunch. Moreover, she’s pretty badass at executing an ambush and wielding heavy weaponry around. – – – Rhiannon Topham

Evey Hammond – – – V for Vendetta (2005)

This is perhaps an odd choice because, in the film adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel, she was more of a damsel in distress, but as the film movies to its middle section, she undergoes a physical and mental transformation which would break most people: Evey ends up captured by Norsefire’s state police and is given an ultimatum: surrender the whereabouts of the vigilante known as V, or face a firing squad.

From there, her hair is shaven off, stripped of her clothes and tortured daily in an attempt to extract the information out of her, and she still refuses to do so. Evey is released, only to learn her grueling ordeal was done by V himself in order to shed her from her fears. The moment where V takes her to the roof of his hideout pad in the rain, she realizes, despite how much animosity she holds for him for what he did, that she is a much stronger person because of it. It’s an incredible transformation in less than 10 minutes of screen-time, and it sets up the tail-end of the movie as the choice to end Parliament and the fascist state police Britain has been living under lies in her hands. – – – Jonathan Holmes

Imperator Furiosa – – – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Ferocious. Guileless. Strong. The most compelling feature of Charlize Theron’s Furiosa is not just how impeccably devastating she can and will be for any situation, but it is where that devastation resides from. The most compelling feature of Furiosa is her compassion and how her emotions guide and fuel her – consider some of the most iconic scenes of George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road, when Max first steals her war rig and comforts her cargo, The Wives, instructing them to keep moving unless everything around is capable of killing them.

Trusting in Max to help their cause to such a degree that they become a well oiled machine. On the final stages to what they thought was the oasis of the Green Place and of course, her screaming in anguish at realizing the truth of her destination. Furiosa’s amazing strength doesn’t come from her incredible ability to shoot enemies down and rip off their faces; it comes from her capacity to care for those who need her strength in the first place. – – – Tobi Ogunyemi

Rita – – – Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

The world was recently introduced to a relatively newcomer to the action genre, Emily Blunt’s Rita in Edge of Tomorrow took the world by storm. Initially the movie didn’t receive much traction pre-release and yet post release Blunt solidified herself as a badass female by whipping Tom Cruise into shape. As the leader of the human resistance against a self aware alien race, Blunt slashed and shot her way to become the “Angel of Verdun”.

Even at the most dire point of the film Blunt demanded herself to be allowed to end the conflict proving her capabilities to lead a film. The future is incredibly bright for Emily Blunt and we can sure expect her in leading roles for years to come. – – – Mike Austin

Rose DeWitt Bukater – – – Titanic (1997)

Rose DeWitt Bukater is a kick-ass character because she was a woman in a man’s world, dealing with a lot of emotional turmoil. Her decisions were made for her including having to be with a man in Cal Hockley that she didn’t love, and didn’t even want to be with. Also, she had to keep her opinions on this and moving to America to marry him to herself. This made her suicidal.

But then she met Jack Dawson, who helped give her the strength to decide for herself to say no to this, and instead choose to be with Jack. She fell in love with him, and decided to stand up for herself against her mom and Cal, the consequences of this being serious and even dangerous. He tries to kill Rose and Jack. But it didn’t really matter, because they were also dealing with an even bigger problem in that their ship was sinking and going into the icy cold water.

In the end, she survived even this, got rescued, and went on to have a long and fulfilling life. She discovered her inner strength during a time of crisis, and managed to come out the other side a happier and more confident person. – – – Al Robinson