10 Most Badass Movie Hitmen

10. Vincent - Collateral

Tom Cruise eschewed his typical action hero role in Michael Mann’s 2004 neo-noir thriller, and instead gave us a cold, resolute and utterly unrepentant killer.

Cruise’s Vincent spends his evening being chauffeured around by taxi driver Max (Jamie Foxx), forcing the cabbie to drive him from one target to the next. While most hitmen are either silent but deadly mechanical types or charismatic anti-heroes, Vincent falls somewhere between the two. He is lethal, he is deadly, but he is also strangely charming and almost likeable.

Michael Mann imbues the film with brooding and tense atmosphere and Cruise's character is a huge part of this. His lethal abilities and brutal ways are made very clear, yet he also keeps so much of it hidden beneath the surface, a prime example being his cheerful yet threatening interaction with Max's own mother.

He may be affable but there's that glint in the eye that shows he's not a man to be taken lightly.