No Time to Die: Where does Rami Malek rank as a 21st Century Bond Villain?

Being James Bond is something of an art form. The suave gentlemanly approach. The charm whilst defying and disobeying orders. The sartorial get-ups, and not to mention the verbal and intellectual dance with a counterpart.

But being a Bond villain is also an art form. Perhaps even more so than being Bond. First, you have to spend some time in the shadows; then you must know how to make an appearance. The charm also needs to exist, as does the verbal and intellectual sparring session with Bond. Rami Malek was the latest actor to don the Bond Big Bad persona in No Time to Die; so, where does he rank among the Bond villains of this century?

11. C (Spectre)

No explanation necessary, is there?

10. Tang Ling Zao (Die Another Day)

The back of Rick Yune’s acting baseball card is littered with being a bad guy in film, from The Fast and the Furious to Olympus has Fallen. Die Another Day, sadly, was one of his more forgettable acts.

9. Hinx (Spectre)

There was something quite admirable about the fact that Dave Bautista’s character in Spectre didn’t say any word in all his screen-time, right until his final moments. But Hinx in Spectre sits low on this list for doing little else, other than prolonging the plot for about half an hour.

8. Gustav Graves/Colonel Moon (Die Another Day)

Con: He built an electric with a function that could electrocute himself while wearing it? Gustav Graves in Die Another Day did match Bond (played by Pierce Brosnan) for the sense of style, both verbally and sartorially, but this was a thoroughly forgettable bad guy, not to mention the obsessive Western anti-DPRK sentiment. Plus, in the space of 14 months, he changed his face from a DPRK Colonel, developed a British accent, got a knighthood, designed a space weapon, and became a fencing genius? Too much.

7. Dominic Greene (Quantum of Solace)

In Mathieu Amalric’s defence, there was a writer’s strike while this movie was in production. That explains why this was a thoroughly underused character, in every sense of the word. The concept of Greene’s motives is very much on brand for a villain, but its the act that really undermine the whole thing. He doesn’t even interact with Bond until the end.

6. Mr White (Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace)

Mr White gets some slack for limited screen-time, but that’s also part of the problem. Given the way Casino Royale ended, and Quantum of Solace started, it looked like he’d play a key part in what’s to come. Except we didn’t see him again until he played pseudo-ally to Bond in Spectre.

5. Miranda Frost (Die Another Day)

It says a lot that about Die Another Day that the supposedly third-rated villain in the film was its best. Die Another Day will probably live in the memory as Rosamund Pike’s burst onto the limelight, and her role as a sleeper agent in the MI6 was decent. But there have better performances from her since, and the film in itself was far from commendable.

4. Safian (No Time to Die)

Rami Malek was the latest face to play a Bond villain, in Bond 25. But the problem is that the Daniel Craig bond films were interconnected, and Spectre had hit the peak for villain hierarchy. No Time to Die had to get creative with their big bad, but Malek was thoroughly underused, and sometimes seemed like a taciturn imitation of a certain MCU villain.

3. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Spectre)

Expectations were high for our big bad in Spectre. The fact that this would be a modern-day reprisal of the famous Bond villain, and the fact that this would be played by Christoph Waltz, who gave a villain masterclass in Inglorious Basterds in 2009. Sadly, we were let-down. The style and the commanding positions get points for trying, but they seem inadequate. Plus, it sullies the whole point when we found out that he’s Bond’s half-brother.

2. Le Chiffre (Casino Royale)

Such was Mads Mikkelsen’s performance in Casino Royale that it’s almost sad he came into the franchise that early. Mikkelsen had the style, the nous, and the artistry to play a Bond villain, all while doing so at a Poker table. The conclusion of him playing accounting lackey to others was a touch underwhelming, but this was obviously more hit than miss.

1. Raoul Silva (Skyfall)

An Oscar winner for playing a sociopathic bad guy getting thrust onto the scene as Bond villain? This time, it didn’t just work, it was pretty much the standout performance of Skyfall. Javier Bardem played a former MI6 agent turned baddie, and in terms of the movie itself, works terrifically as a Bond villain in a way that he’s been talked about and feared without even making an appearance yet. But ultimately, it’s about that speech, isn’t it?