10 Most Disappointing Villains From Otherwise Great Movies
2. Cobalt - Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
The Great Movie: Riding off the strength of some incredible set pieces, Ghost Protocol breathed new life into the Mission: Impossible series with a fun, flashy entry.
The Disappointing Villain: Mission: Impossible movies have always been more about the missions themselves than the villains theyre meant to prevent. That said, Mission: Impossible III benefited from an incredible performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, cementing his place as the most fearsome villain of the series.
Knowing he was unlikely to top Hoffmans Owen Davien, director Brad Bird wisely decided to avoid spotlighting the villain, and made the focus of the film the individual missions. This would, however, come at the expense of Cobalts screen time and development.
Kurt Hendricks, codenamed Cobalt is more of a plot device than an actual character. He scarcely appears in the film itself and acts solely as a means to give Ethan and his team their next mission. Theres nothing wrong with that approach when the missions are so fun, but its undeniable how weak the conflict risked being, considering that we barely care about the man theyre trying to stop.
Giving Cobalt some time on screen is better than none at all but it feels like there was still room to eke out a bit more from him while still maintaining the rest of the film.