The last time Tom Cruise played a movie villain was in 2004’s Collateral, an 86%-scored crime thriller that’s currently playing on Netflix. The best Tom Cruise movies range from critically acclaimed hits like Magnolia and Eyes Wide Shut to major action franchise films like Top Gun: Maverick and Mission: Impossible. As one of the world’s most recognizable and beloved movie stars, almost everyone has seen a Tom Cruise movie and is familiar with his action-hero persona, making it all the more exciting to see a movie where he’s playing a different mold of character.
Like The Rock or Ryan Reynolds, Tom Cruise has found a character type that brings audiences to movie theaters. His confident, often smug action movie lead, be it Ethan Hunt or Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell, is guaranteed to rake in millions at the box office. He’s spent much of the 21st century playing variations of this character, though he started his career with a much wider variety of roles. Collateral is one of acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann’s best movies, and it’s one of the rare 2000s movies where Cruise plays a unique character, and he’s phenomenal in it.
Michael Mann’s Collateral Is Tom Cruise’s Last Time Playing A Villain
Tom Cruise Hasn’t Played A Villain In 20 Years
Collateral is a 2004 crime/action thriller starring Tom Cruise alongside Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and more. Foxx is the lead protagonist, Max, a taxi driver in Los Angeles who incidentally picks up Tom Cruise’s character, a hitman named Vincent. Vincent is a mysterious, charismatic figure, and he offers Max the opportunity to drive him around to multiple destinations in the city with no questions asked. At each destination, Vincent assassinates one of his contract targets, leaving a trail of bodies behind the taxi.
Tom Cruise is unbelievable as the silver-haired assassin character, using his usual movie star charisma as cover for an unhinged killer. Collateral is not only an exciting thriller, but it’s also a deeply artistic movie with beautiful scenery, intelligent, philosophical dialogue, and outstanding performances. Michael Mann, known for his 1995 masterpiece Heat, is one of the world’s most renowned directors, and Collateral is a film worth checking out for any fans of Tom Cruise or the crime thriller genre.
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Tom Cruise Played One Of The Best Movie Villains Of All Time 20 Years Ago & I’m Still Waiting For More
Tom Cruise has hardly played any antagonists in his illustrious career but his iconic villain role in Michael Mann’s 2004 thriller makes me want more.
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Tom Cruise Defies Expectations In Collateral
Tom Cruise has a persona as a movie hero, and it’s important to his branding and image to uphold that. However, that persona is part of what makes it so powerful when he plays one of his villain characters, particularly in Michael Mann’s Collateral. Vincent is the type of character who seems like he could show up in a Mission: Impossible movie. He’s cold, calculating, and extremely dangerous, and it’s all the more unnerving with Tom Cruise playing the character, defying expectations of what audiences should expect from him.
10/10
Collateral
Directed by Michael Mann, the crime thriller Collateral features Tom Cruise as a hitman hired to take out witnesses before a big trial and Jamie Foxx as the cab driver who unwittingly becomes his accomplice. With Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem in its cast, the 2004 film received critical acclaim for its direction, performances, and suspenseful plot.
- Director
- Michael Mann
- Release Date
- August 6, 2004
- Runtime
- 120 minutes