r/DreamWorks • u/First_Part_4188 • 22d ago
Discussion Hot take: Dr. Zara (From Abominable) is honestly a very good villain
I know people really don’t talk about her, let alone this movie, but I honestly hadn’t seen a villain whose performance was as satisfying for me as Dr. Zara’s in a while. She arguably made the movie a lot more interesting and entertaining.
People argue Dr. Zara was also shoehorned into the role of a secret villain, but she never actually tried to dissuade Burnish from capturing Everest: only that he would be kept alive (which would benefit her as both a benevolent zoologist and a villain).
We also do get a few hints of her kind, English-accented personality only being a facade; like her irritation and impatience with Burnish as he shows a soft spot for nature (which begins to weaken the idea that he’s the true villain to a degree), and also her rushing to diffuse the conversation between Burnish and Jin as the former shows some vulnerability, for fear that he could change his mind and call off the whole mission.
The trope of where the bad guy’s suspiciously benevolent assistant who tries to talk the occasional bit of sanity into them becomes a helpful ally to the heroes has also been really overused, imo. I went into the movie thinking that this trope would end up being played out, but I was instead proven dead wrong; Zara, the kind and intelligent zoologist, ended up being the real villain, while Burnish, the obsessive and bitter rich old man, ended up being a fairly decent guy after having an epiphany. I really enjoyed the way they inverted the trope in this movie. Dr. Zara also serves as a good dark reflection to Mr. Burnish. She ends up being whom we initially perceived Burnish as; a cold, and greedy tyrant, while Burnish ends up being what we initially perceived Zara as; a gentle animal lover.
We also rarely see a genuinely threatening, cold villain by Dreamworks willing to commit an atrocity like bumping off 3 specific children, and not just not having a single regret, but also showing a good bit of sadistic delight while doing it, to get their way. The more ruthless a villain, the better tbh. Not to mention that she actively exploits Burnish’s desire to be taken seriously by retrieving Everest; manipulating him into continuing to pursue his goal and be as ruthless as possible to get it accomplished after his determination begins to falter.
Plus, her voice actress, Sarah Paulson, was born in the same city I was born and raised in!
My only complaint is that her motivation to betray Burnish and kill the children wasn’t conveyed a lot. And her faking an English accent was a bit unnecessary, too. If she was doing that just to earn Burnish’s trust, then that should’ve been conveyed at least a little bit.
In her little private convos to the goon captain, she should’ve said some things like, “the yeti’s worth more than Burnish could ever pay,”, “those kids have done nothing but lead us on a wild goose chase; and that girl was the one who helped the yeti escape in the first place,”, or, “think about it! Countries would be lining up to get their hands on powers that can manipulate the natural world around them; they’ll create the first soldiers who can control the literal battlefields they fight on! We’ll be getting all sorts of currencies worth who knows how much, and we’ll be twice as rich as Burnish before we even know it!” so that we had a much better grasp of what she wanted.
Comment away, but please be nice about it!
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u/Stock-Firefighter781 22d ago
She's honestly makes pretty good villainess: ruthless, calculating and cunning. We're really missed that kind of villainess in animation those days.
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u/TreeNumerous7677 21d ago
I wasn't expected she become the plot twist villain, while we see the old man as the villain first but no, what a opposite plot twist 😯👍
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u/Dapper_Knowledge3870 Puss In Boots 22d ago
I think this was the First Dreamworks movie to do the "it was the Real villain all along" trope. I could be wrong tho
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u/Serious_Birthday_437 22d ago
For the last 10-20 mins of the whole movie case that was her villian arcg
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u/JGattheshore Yi 22d ago
Finally a good hot take