It is fairly impressive that Viggo Mortensen shows such versatility as an actor; despite all the type-casting going in Hollywood, Viggo has still managed to grace a variety of roles.
However, there is one thing that most of his notable characters have in common: they are complete badasses.
For example, Tom Stall in "The History of Violence" (2005) brings the meaning of the phrase "pent-up aggression" to a whole new level, Frank Hopkins in "Hidalgo" (2004) enters into a to-the-death horse race against intense desert natives, Nikolai of the newly-released "Eastern Promises" is the most brutal chauffer the Russian mob has ever seen, and Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings," well ... there are no words in either English or Elvish to encapsulate his hand-to-hand combat prowess.
The burning question then becomes: If "History of Violence" Viggo met "Eastern Promises" Viggo met "Lord of the Rings" Viggo met "Hidalgo" Viggo, who would prevail?
Let's find out.
As the cage closes around them, Frank Hopkins grabs his trusty steed, Hidalgo, jumps on and starts riding around the cage. After 3,000 miles through the Arabian Desert, this horse can take pretty much anything. Nikolai quickly becomes irate at Hopkins' pathetic ploy to gain the advantage by bringing his horse. He proceeds to smash a bottle of vodka on Hidalgo's head, kicks Hopkins off the animal and starts cutting off Hopkins' fingers one by one.
Meanwhile, Tom Stall is sitting in the corner with his eyes closed trying to suppress his innate urge to let loose his Jason Bourne-esque hidden violent tendencies. Suddenly, Nikolai yells over to Stall, reminding him that when he was in his 20s, Stall was Nikolai's co-chauffer for the Russian mob.
Instantly, the memories transform Stall into a psycho killer. He grabs the horse from underneath Hopkins, snaps its neck and begins swinging it around his head in an uncontrollable rage.
From out of nowhere, Aragorn jumps from the corner of the cage into the middle of the action. With a calm look on his face, he eliminates the other three plus the horse with one fell swoop of his sword.
Then, without a scratch on him, he shakes his long sweaty man hair and walks away.
-by Kristin Gorman
