Demi Moore as Jordan O’Neill in “GI Jane”
Liking Ridley Scott’s bleak and unquestioningly gung-ho “GI Jane” is not a popular stance, but here we are. Probably more a tribute to Demi Moore’s spectacular physique than a real story per se, the film’s politics may be dodgily militaristic, but there’s still a deep fascination watching the actress’ transformation from determinedly feminine, sexy love interest-type to outrageously buff, gruff, shaven-headed Navy SEAL. Trained/tortured physically and psychologically, she’s also the second of two women on this list (Geena Davis in “Long Kiss Goodnight” being the other) to claim the anatomically impossible “Suck my dick” as a motto, which isn’t big or clever, but we still get a kick out of it.
Saoirse Ronan as Hanna in “Hanna”
Joe Wright’s “Hanna” is in many ways a film as slender as its tiny protagonist, but it features a terrifically ferocious performance from future Streep-esque multiple Oscar-winner Ronan (we’re calling it now) that makes the most of her knack for portraying outsiders, young girls of almost alien lonesomeness and curiosity. But her wild thing character, essentially a riff on the raised-by-wolves myth (see “Princess Mononoke”!) also gets to kill a lot of people, most stylishly in this scene, which we love for Ronan but also for Cate Blanchett’s pitch perfect, monstrous reaction of shock, fright and unabashed admiration and pride.
Gina Carano as Mallory Kane in “Haywire”
If part of the thrill is knowing that that the actors onscreen are doing their own stunts, that goes triple for Steven Soderbergh’s experiment in the “real action” genre, “Haywire.” The film itself doesn’t really work, Carano’s line readings are pretty flat and the plot is an afterthought, but there are a couple of set pieces that are worth the price of admission alone. We obviously love Carano besting Channing Tatum in the first five minutes, but this hotel room dust up with Michael Fassbender is even better for so many reasons: how Carano takes, as well as doles out, a hit; her thigh grip choke hold; or the fact that the former MMA star is not above using whatever comes to hand —vases, sofas, pillows. Special mention to the two terrific showdowns between her and Rodriguez in “Fast & Furious 6” too.
Honorable Mentions: As we said, we’re barely scratching the surface with the twenty-five picks above, and some of the actresses could in fact have cropped up more than once: there’s Milla Jovovich in the “Resident Evil” films, Michelle Rodriguez in “The Fast & The Furious” or “Avatar,” Scarlett Johansson in “Lucy,” or Angelina Jolie in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” or “Salt.”
We also could have included Carrie Fisher as Leia in “The Empire Strikes Back,” Jennifer Garner in “Elektra,” Jessica Biel in “Blade Trinity,” Zoe Saldana in “Colombiana,” “The Losers” or “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” Rose MacGowan in “Planet Terror,” Noomi Rapace in “Prometheus,” Anne Hathaway in “The Dark Knight Rises,” Shailene Woodley in “Divergent,” Keira Knightley in “Domino,” Rhona Mitra in “Doomsday,” or the animated heroines of “Brave” or “Mulan,” among others. And we know we’ll get some stick for leaving off Kate Beckinsale in the “Underworld” movies, but sorry, none of us could muster the enthusiasm.
And for slight more leftfield picks we could have gone for, there’s a whole genre of revenge/exploitation flicks that we largely avoided, though Raquel Welch in “Hannie Caulder,” nearly made the grade, while Hilary Swank in “Million Dollar Baby,” Franka Potente in “Run Lola Run,” Susan Sarandon in “Thelma & Louise,” and Jane Fonda in “Barbarella” were all also considered. Anyone else? We’re sure there is … let us know in the comments.