6. The "Villain"
There's no arguing that of the more elderly main cast, the most in-shape and physically capable actor is Jean-Claude Van Damme; though he's a fair few years younger than the likes of Norris, Schwarzenegger and Stallone, he has evidently taken care of himself, and has a physically imposing presence. The first issue, however, is that he isn't introduced until the end of the first act, giving him less than an hour to make an impact upon us. While cinema has shown what fantastic actors can do with a great script and limited screen time - just look at Heath Ledger in
The Dark Knight - Van Damme's antagonist, ludicrously named "Jean Vilain", doesn't really get too many moments to shine, save perhaps for his outstanding final fight against Stallone's Barney Ross. After he dispatches Billy the Kid, Van Damme disappears in and out of the picture quite indiscriminately, appearing for brief bouts of violence, but not really cementing himself as a particularly statuesque villain. Also, a subplot in which he appears to exploit a small town's group of miners for his own weapon-gathering ends feels horribly tacked on and totally underdeveloped, not that we were expecting nuanced storytelling.