The 10 Best Female Movie Characters in the Past 10 Years

By: Ramona Barckert

About a month ago, I posted a challenge to readers asking them to create a list of what they considered to be the 10 Best Female Movie Characters from 1998 to 2008. This was a completely unscientific poll based on the arbitrary, subjective opinions of whoever decided to participate. Thanks to everyone who did. Of the female characters that received the most votes, you’ll find they range widely across age, class and experience. The genre of films they come from is a potpourri as well; sci-fi, action, indie flicks, comedies and historical dramas.

As people posted their lists, one thing became clear: the construction of female characters in modern cinema can seem bleak and narrow-minded on the surface but if you stop and think about it for a few moments, you will find that there have been many great, enduring characters introduced to us over the last ten years. To celebrate them, here’s the best of the recent best.

The Top 10 Best Female Movie Characters in the Past 10 Years

10. Trinity (The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions)

"Dodge this."

9. Olive Hoover (Little Miss Sunshine)

"I'd like to dedicate this to my grandpa, who showed me these moves."

8. Amelie Poulain (Amelie)

"I am nobody's little weasel."

7. Tracy Flick (Election)

"It's like my mom says, the weak are always trying to sabotage the strong."

6. Elle Woods (Legally Blonde, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde)

"Oh I like your outfit too, except when I dress up as a frigid bitch I try not to look so constipated."

5. Miranda Priestly (The Devil Wears Prada)

"The details of your incompetence does not interest me."

4. Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age)

"I am not your Elizabeth. I am no man's Elizabeth. And if you think to rule here, you are mistaken. I will have one mistress here... and no master."

3. Queen Elizabeth II (The Queen)

"If you imagine that I'm going to drop everything and come down to London before I attend to my grandchildren who've just lost their mother... then you are mistaken."

2. The Bride (Kill Bill, Kill Bill Vol. 2)

"No, to get even, even-Steven? I would have to kill you... go up to Nikki's room, kill her... then wait for your husband, the good Dr. Bell to come home and kill him. That would be even, Vernita. That'd be about square."

1. Bridget Jones (Bridget Jones Diary, Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason)

"Resolution number one: obviously, will lose twenty pounds. Number two: will find nice sensible boyfriend and not continue to form romantic attachments to alcoholics, workaholics, peeping-toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts."