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By Kim Morgan
Special to MSN Movies
Women have anger -- that's no secret. But how does is manifest itself? Crying jags? Yelling at your boyfriend? Pulling a Loretta Lynn, hunting down the girl who took your man and sending her, as the glorious Ms. Lynn puts it, "to fist city"? Yes, indeed. Real life can be something like a country song. But in the make-believe of Hollywood, angry girls simply kick butt.
And we mean really kick butt -- to the point of absolute, physical absurdity, which is part of the thrill. In a newly popular form of post-feminist pluck, Hollywood hasn't been this excited by the female fighter since Pam Grier bust her sexy, funky moves in '70s blaxploitation flicks. Now, the female fighter's gone mainstream. Think Angelina Jolie in "Tomb Raider" and the sequel "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life." Or both "Charlie's Angels." Or Carrie Ann Moss in "The Matrix." Or Naomie Harris in "28 Days Later." Or the Terminatrix in "T3," tearing off car tops with the ease of opening up a new box of shoes (women are much more industrious than given credit for).
And, apparently, audiences can't get enough. Case in point: Experience the utter thrill of watching Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu and Daryl Hannah. Uma with swords; Uma with blood on her face; Daryl (who kicked butt in "Blade Runner") flying through the air. Would this be as exciting if it were men? Hardly. So, in honor of women finally being allowed to do the unbelievably brave and physically impossible stunts that men have been doing in films for years, here's our list of the top 10 female-kicking-butt movies. And if you disagree, you may not want to cross us. There are girls around here.
10. "G.I. Jane" (1997)
Everyone's so amazed by how well
preserved Demi Moore looks in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," but they should remember two
things: One, she's not exactly a senior citizen quite yet, and two, "G.I. Jane."
If you work that hard to get in shape, it's highly unlikely (especially for a
female Hollywood star) that you're going to let go of it anytime soon. Though
mostly lambasted by critics, Ridley Scott's "G.I. Jane" is a melodramatic but
oddly entertaining and effective portrait of a woman pushing herself to play in
a man's world. Here it's rigorous Navy Seal training. Demi is mad she wasn't
allowed to serve in the Gulf War and so she endures what appears to be torture
under the leadership of a deranged, D.H. Lawrence-quoting Viggo Mortensen. One's not sure just what point this
film was trying to make, or if it's even realistic, but the experience is
fascinating if only for Demi's butch crew cut, insanely cut body, focused scowl
and transparent need to prove something to Hollywood. She worked her butt off,
but typically, six years later, all it took was dating the young Ashton Kutcher to get (re)noticed.
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