By Owen Quinn author
Photo copyright Owen Quinn
I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.
When we first met the cold, sadistic Captain Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham) he is the head of a special forces unit testing for new recruits. Lawrence Cooper is trying for a position on his team and impresses having evaded the hunting squad for twenty two hours and 47 minutes. Ryan then instructs Cooper to shoot the dog. Cooper quickly refuses saying the dog has done nothing wrong. Ryan insists but Cooper will not do it. Ryan shoots the dog instead and informs Cooper he has failed for not being able to kill the dog.
The conversation between them is interesting as it says a lot about Ryan. Cooper’s refusal to kill the animal shows he has a conscience and Ryan does not need men of conscience. He needs men that will carry out orders no matter how they appear. He tells him his squad is on a different level and that he needs men of action not deeds, before shooting the dog. Ryan’s voice is very monotone only rising when he shouts at Cooper that he failed himself. He comes across as a tough man that has no time for discussion. His word is law no matter what the situation. His reasoning is that an enemy can use dogs to track you, so in order to take away that ability you must kill the animals first to make the hunt harder. Cooper would agree but this situation is not an enemy one. To kill a perfectly healthy dog used in their own armed forces is a waste and unconscionable. But Ryan’s face is impassive and when he pulls the trigger he gives a slight tilt of his head as if he is mocking Cooper that he is a better soldier than he.
Cooper attacks him but Ryan puts a gun in his face telling him that until he can kill a dog, to live and learn. Cooper lands a punch but is overpowered by Ryan who tells him he doesn’t do second chances and he never forgets. This will come back to haunt them later in the movie.
Four weeks later Cooper is with a squad led by Sarge (Sean Pertwee) on a training mission. It isn’t long before strange things start to happen and they are attacked by werewolves. They find a camp and a wounded Ryan, who screams there should have been only one. He has been badly clawed but by luck they are rescued by a local zoologist Megan who happens to be driving by.
Holing up in a farmhouse they fortify the doors and windows while tending to their wounded. However the truth comes out as Ryan is still obviously holding a deep hatred for Cooper and taunts them. He is growing stronger, his wounds impossibly healing fast. Neither is it a coincidence that Megan just happened by in the middle of all this wilderness. She works with Ryan.
He reveals he was tasked with bringing a werewolf back to weaponise but they were misinformed. Sarge’s squad was the bait to lure it out into the open but they didn’t know there was a pack of them. They slaughtered his squad, the squad Cooper was to be part of. Megan is also one of them and now Ryan transforms into a wolf right before their eyes. He escapes and joins the attack on the house.
All the way through you can see in Cunningham’s performance that he holds a boiling fury for Cooper and being disrespected by Sarge’s team does not sit well with him. He is used to men following his orders without question and he is tough enough to take down even someone like Cooper. He is not a pushover by any means but a warrior to be feared. With no conscience is Ryan is a scary enough thing in a person but when that is brought over to a werewolf that makes it a powerful animal and foe indeed. You can see in his very eyes the wolf part grow in him and you can be sure that since he never forgets, all of the remaining members of Sarge’s team especially Cooper are on his hit list. Director Neil Marshall does a fantastic job using the lighting to emphasis the internal change while emoting dark emotion.
Cooper emerges the only survivor but survival instinct is one of Ryan’s strengths. He has managed to survive the explosion and hid in the cellar while the rest of the wolves died. The cellar contains the bodies of his squad. Cooper knows straight away that it is Cooper from the wood sticking from his chest and they fight. But rather than just tear him apart with his teeth, Ryan fights like a human punching Cooper. He also shows his sadistic side when he tries to impale Cooper through the mouth with the end of the wood in his chest. When Sam the dog attacks Ryan, Cooper manages to kill him with a silver letter opener and a gun this time but even in wolf form it is clear Ryan’s grudge with him is still brewing.
What does that say about the strength of Ryan’s personality that he can retain his human skills while in wolf form? Imagine that kind of persona on the side of the good guys.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 