7) Shere Khan – The Jungle Book
Lent a full-throated malice by Idris Elba, Shere Khan is above all a terrific advert for animation houses Moving Picture Company and Weta Digital. A feat of digital engineering, this villain boasts a verisimilitude unlike any other character in The Jungle Book, or indeed any other all-CGI character this year. We believe it when we see Shere Khan attack our heroes, or when he callously murders his rivals.
The character is at perhaps his most terrifying, though, when he’s simply prowling, circling our heroes and eyeing them up as potential future meals. Shere Khan always carries with him a threat of violence, like he’s ready to strike at any time, killing other beasts of the jungle simply to send the message that he’s the top of the food chain.