15 Best Movie Villains Of The Decade

7. Phoenix Buchanan - Paddington 2 (2017)

Paddington 2 might well be widely adored, but it will never be as cherished as it deserves as long as people pause in their effusive praise of it. It is a wonderful film, heart-warming, charming and richly entertaining and despite being an unexpected frame for a great villain, that ended up being one of its biggest selling points.

Rightly rewarded with an Oscar nomination (but cruelly pipped at the post), Hugh Grant's Phoenix Buchanan is a gloriously camp figure who feels part PG Wodehouse, part Agatha Christie and part Enid Blyton even, with a decidedly darker edge. He's theatrical, driven by no more than a lust for the riches and status to which he's become accustomed (though it's all based on former glories, of course) and the very fact that he could implicate as innocent and pure a character as Paddington in his nefarious scheme confirms his villainy.

And yet, he's utterly charming and his musical finale is an absolute treat.