I don't know about you, but I am not a huge fan of the wishy washy woman who needs a man to come to her aid in movies I like a strong and independent film who fights for herself... and we have seen plenty of those characters in 2015.
Toughest Female Film Characters of 2015
Katniss Everdeen is another of those characters and she is back on the big screen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. She is one of the greatest female characters in recent years and has been played beautifully by Jennifer Lawrence.
To celebrate the final appearance of Katniss on the big screen this week, we take a look at some of the other tough female characters we have been treated to so far this year.
- Imperator Furiosa/Charlize Theron - Mad Max: Fury Road
The Mad Max franchise returned to the big screen back in May and introduced us to Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa - who, for me, is the real heart and soul of this film and the main female protagonist.
Imperator Furiosa many have been a solider for villain Immortan Joe, she has betrayed him and is battling to save 'the Five Wives' who have become sex slaves. Imperator Furiosa teams up with Mad Max to drive The Five Wives to a safe place and protect them along the way.
It is on this journey that Imperator Furiosa shows her fighting qualities as she risks everything to protect these young women and try to give them the chance of a better life.
We haven't seen Theron take on an action packed role like this before and she really does thrown herself into it. She has a real power and a presence from start to finish and her stunts are just fantastic.
Sadly, there are rumours that we won't be seeing the character of Imperator Furiosa in the Mad Max sequel and it is a shame that we will not see Theron explore this character future and it looks like she had a past that would have been great to delve into.
- Black Widow/Scarlett Johansson - Avengers: Age of Ultron
When it comes to Marvel characters, Black Widow is one of my favourites as she is a no nonsense chick who can more than take care of herself - as she has proved since we were introduced to her back in Iron Man 2.
Black Widow is the Avenger with the darkest past and we keep getting little hints about it as each film goes by. Age of Ultron is no different as we get a glimpse of the training that she had to endure as a young girl.
While I was not a huge fan of the romance between Black Widow and Bruce Banner in the film, Johansson still delivers a great performance and some wonderful stunts.
Black Widow is a fully-fledged member of the Avengers and is once again called upon to save the world. She is kicking ass at the beginning of the film and I love the motorbike scene in Seoul, where she comes to the aid of Captain America.
Black Widow is a character that has dark and very rich past and I love that her layers are being peeled back bit by bit. You do have to ask, why has she not landed her own solo movie yet?
- Kate Macer/Emily Blunt - Sicario
Tough female characters have not just come in the comic book movies/blockbusters this year as Emily Blunt is fantastic in crime/drama Sicario, which hit the big screen at the beginning of October.
Blunt took on the central role of FBI agent Kate Macer, who is chosen to work with a task force against the war on drugs on the U.S. and Mexico border. Denis Villeneuve was in the director's chair and it was the first time that Blunt had teamed up with the filmmaker.
I have been a fan of Blunt for many years and she delivers a strong, compelling, and engaging performance from the opening scene to the closing credits. We have seen her taken on tougher more action packed roles in recent years - Edge of Tomorrow being another - and I would love to see her do more of this going forward.
Kate Macer is a character who finds herself thrown into a world that she does not understand and where the line between right and wrong become blurred
Blunt is being tipped as a possible Best Actress Oscar contender for her central performance and Sicario could also be in the running for Best Picture when the nominations are revealed early next year.
- Hope van Dyne/Evangeline Lilly - Ant-Man
Ant-Man was the second of two Marvel films to hit the big screen this year and kicked off a brand new film franchise. While Paul Rudd took on the title role, the role of Hope van Dyne went to Evangeline Lilly.
Lilly has already proved her action credentials with a great performance in The Hobbit movies and it is great to see her back in a big blockbuster film.
Hope van Dyne is the daughter of Hank Pym - played by Michael Douglas - who is a smart business woman in her own right but has a tense relationship with her father.
Van Dyne is a character that goes on one of the biggest journeys in the film as she not only trains Scott Lang to become Ant Man, but she also tries to rebuild her relationship with her father. Van Dyne has an interesting and complex relationship with both men and it is great to see this explored so early in a new franchise.
It has already been announced that Lilly will be back in sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp and will take on the role of The Wasp and I can't wait to see her as more of a superhero.
- Maud Watts/Carey Mulligan - Suffragette
When it comes to strong female characters on the big screen in 2015, no film has more that Suffragette, a movie that explored the early days of the suffragette movement and what they had to do to win the vote for women.
While some of the film's characters are fictional, the movie sees Meryl Streep and Natalie Press take on the real-life roles of Emmeline Pankhurst and Emily Davison.
Carey Mulligan took on the central role of fictional character Maud Watts, a footsoldier in the suffragette movement. Maud is a laundress and has been sexually abused her a supervisor for many years
She is a character who wants a greater say in her life and battles for the rights she believes that she deserves. It may cost Maud her marriage, her child, and results in being ostracized by the community in which she lives, but she continues to fight for what she believes in and the injustices that she feels women faced at that time.
Mulligan delivers a stunning central performance as she turns Maud from a woman had resigned herself to a certain type of life to someone who is willing to speak out and demand more. It is an engrossing and heart-breaking performance from Mulligan as we see just how much these women had to sacrifice to be heard. Suffragette will definitely be an awards contender next year and Mulligan could well be in the Best Actress Oscar race once more.
- Katniss Everdeen/Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
Katniss Everdeen is the role that truly turned Jennifer Lawrence into a global star and she remains one of the greatest literary and big screen heroines of recent years.
By the time we settle down to watch Mockingjay - Part 2 this weekend, Katniss has accepted her role as the face of the revolution and is ready to go to war against the oppressive Capitol.
We have seen Katniss as a reluctant figure of revolution in The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, but the more that she and her community are attacked by President Snow, the more Katniss is ready to stand up and fight.
Katniss has dared to believe that she and the other people in the districts could have a different and better life and I can't wait to see how that comes to a head in the fourth and final film.
Katniss Everdeen is a character who has always been strong; she cared for her mother and sister after the death of her father and survived the Hunger Games twice. And yet she was plagued by self-doubt and uncertainty - something that Lawrence has always captured so perfectly.
The Hunger Games movies have been terrific adaptations of Suzanne Collins' books and I am truly sad to see this great film franchise brought to a close - it does look like it is going to be an epic conclusion!!!!
Other tough female characters to check out include Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys, Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire in Jurassic World and Shailene Woodley in Insurgent.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 is out now.