50 Greatest Movie Assassins

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The ultimate hit list

Sin City (2005)

Coolest Element: As revealed in the graphic novels, she's also a whizz on roller blades.

The Matador (2005)

The Assassin: Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan), a washed-up killer coming unstuck during a job-gone-wrong in Mexico.

Weapon Of Choice: It's all about awareness, as Julian teaches business Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) how to initiate a kill in an impromptu tutorial.

Coolest Element: Brosnan kissing his past as 007 goodbye by playing the professional killer as you'd imagine them to be in real life.

In Bruges (2008)

The Assassins: Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson), in hiding in Bruges after a botched hit.

Weapon Of Choice: Conscience - Ray is wracked with Catholic guilt over killing a child by mistake, and Ken is similarly concerned over his partner's well-being.

Coolest Element: The profanity-strewn arguments over the merits of Bruges. We have a feeling all hitmen behave like this during downtime.

The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part 2 (1974)

The Assassin: Willi Cicci (Joe Spinell), Mafia footsoldier and executor of Michael Corleone's (Al Pacino) orders.

Weapon Of Choice: Strategic vision - there's no way a target can escape when he's caught in the revolving doors of a hotel entrance.

Coolest Element: Subpoenaed to testify against Michael, Cicci gives his job description as a button man. "When the boss says push the button on a guy, I push the button, see, Senator?"

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966)

The Assassin: Ethically-challenged cowboy Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef).

Weapon Of Choice: Commitment - he always finishes a job he's been paid to do…

Coolest Element: …however, he's not beyond taking up a victim's dying offer of killing the original client so he can pocket both fees.

Kick-Ass (2010)

The Assassin: Pint-sized eleven-year-old Mindy Macready aka Hit-Girl (Chloe Moretz), trained by her father Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) to become a vigilante. Technically, not an assassin, but the clue's in the name.

Weapon Of Choice: Surprise - after all, who expects a kid to be able to fight like that?

Coolest Element: The potty mouth.

Wanted (2008)

The Assassins: The Fraternity, a secret society of killers led by Sloan (Morgan Freeman) and including star performer is Fox (Angelina Jolie) and latest recruit Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy).

Weapon Of Choice: It's not what you use but how you use it, and Fraternity members are trained to bend the arc of a bullet to shoot around corners.

Coolest Element: Victims are chosen by the prophecy of the Loom Of Fate. Yes, these assassins are answerable to knitwear.

Kill List (2011)

The Assassins: Ex-soldiers turned contract killers Jay (Neil Maskell) and Gal (Michael Smiley), given a mysterious list of targets.

Weapon Of Choice: Based on a sliding scale of how outraged Jay is by his victim's crimes, he alternates between gun and lump hammer.

Coolest Element: The freakish calm with which the names on the kill list accept - nay, welcome - their deaths.

JFK (1991)

The Assassin: Lee Harvey Oswald (Gary Oldman), the lone gunman - OR WAS HE? - who shot President Kennedy.

Weapon Of Choice: A Carcano bolt action rifle… but could Oswald really have fired that many rounds in the specified time.

Coolest Element: Oldman was given a plane ticket to America by Oliver Stone and told to do his own research.

Hanna (2011)

The Assassin: Teenage terror Hanna (Saoirse Ronan), trained since birth by ex-CIA pa Erik (Eric Bana) to become a killing machine.

Weapon Of Choice: Skilled in a variety of firearms, but memorably proficient with a bow and arrow.

Coolest Element: Nature or nurture? Hanna's DNA was altered in the womb to suppress fear and enhance her strength.