4) Senator Aaron McComb (played by Ron Silver) – Timecop (1994)
There have been many films based around the concept of time travel, and they usually have a fifty-fifty chance of turning out great or horrible. Timecop certainly falls into the former category as it evenly divides focus on action, visual effects, character and story, creating a comfortable balance for the audience. Van Damme stars here as Max Walker, a detective who has been recruited for the newly formed TEC agency, whose main objective is to police time travel as the technology has been created and made readily available. This is where our villain, Senator Aaron McComb, comes into the picture. He is an ambitious politician who is running for the presidency and needs to scrape together enough money for his campaign. So, where would one get such funds? Travel back and forth in time and steal it from the past, of course!
What sets Ron Silver’s villain apart from nearly every other villain in JCVD’s films (especially around this era), is that he isn’t physically imposing or an “action guy.” I mentioned earlier in our number 10 spot something similar with Ivan Kaye’s villain, but I believe that this is much different.
In JCVD’s career up to this point, he more often than not had to match his fists and feet to defeat the villains that he came up against. But in Timecop, Ron Silver challenges our hero intellectually, which steers the film into a battle of wits rather than brawn.
Silver plays his part with pure expertise, as he is simply playing a politician, which is villain enough for anyone. He’s looking to cheat the system to gain absolute power, and doesn’t care who dies in the process. But he portrays it so well and injects ample amount of charisma and charm to make his Senator McComb very intriguing and, dare I say, somewhat likable at times.
But make no mistake, McComb is downright ruthless, and it was a welcome change to see JCVD come up against a different kind of villain that we’re all not used to seeing in his films. Sadly, Ron Silver passed away in 2009, but he left behind a legacy of work that any master of the craft would be proud to call their own.
Kudos to you Mr Silver, you are missed by many around the world.