It’s one thing to have a villain that is utterly dangerous. It’s a whole different game changer when the villain is also utterly likable.
Because of his sophistication, he comes off as such a gentleman. He has manners. When Mr. Takagi presents himself after an intimidating moment as Hans works his way through the crowd, what does Hans do? Does he smack him in the head with his gun? No. Does he order his men to grab him and take him out back? No. He smiles and shakes his hand.
He also has a keen sense of humor. He breaks the following awkward moment in the elevator by complementing Takagi on his choice of suit.
And lastly, we respect him as a mastermind villain because he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Not only does he interrogate and execute with swagger and void of hesitation, he also takes the initiative to go looking for the detonators alone and jumps into a firefight when necessary (see above). The audience respects that.
The best type of villain is one that the dark side of you secretly roots for. In a world where we know that the hero almost always wins in the end, we need a game changer to challenge that notion, through to the very last moments of the story.
Hans Gruber gave us that, like no other villain has in the history of cinema.
We believed that he was worthy of escaping alive to steal again, exceptionally, another day. We believed if any villain could, it would have been him.
