Martijn is the hidden main antagonist of the 2006 film, Five Fingers.
He is thought to be a Dutch humanitarian worker traveling to Morocco to help malnourished children but is actually a terrorist working with a secret sleeper terrorist cell organization planning in secret to poison fast food and kill thousands of Americans and foreigners abroad.
He is portrayed by Ryan Phillippe, who also portrayed Sebastian Valmont in Cruel Intentions.
Biography[]
Prior Life[]
Not much is known about Martijn, but it appears he was thought to be a happy man living with his girlfriend, Saadia, in the Netherlands. He also was a skilled pianist. At some point, he joined up with a secret Dutch terrorist organization that was plotting to secretly poison fast food with bacteria and kill thousands of Americans and foreigners abroad.
Five Fingers[]
Martijn is first shown playing the piano and about to head off to the airport to travel to Morocco under the guise of a humanitarian worker. After saying goodbye to his girlfriend, Saadia, he meets up with his travel guide agent, Gavin. Upon arrival, they are soon abducted by a group of "terrorists" whilst riding a bus to their destination, and both of them are wake up blindfolded and tied to a chair at an unknown location.
Gavin is soon executed and Martijn is left to psychological manipulation by the head "terrorist", Ahmat. At their first encounter, they play chess and Ahmat tries to give Martijn a chance to reveal his intentions. Throughout his captivity, Martijn tries to claim any wrongdoing at his own ignorance, all while flashbacks reveal his origins and happy life back at home in the Netherlands. Whenever he refuses to subject to any answer, each of his four fingers are cut off by Ahmat and his associate, Aicha, all while being held by one of Ahmat's enforcers to prevent escape. As the torture continues, Martijn continues feigning ignorance by claiming he is in a humanitarian mission to help starved children in Morocco (thus having the audience try to sympathize with him) and claiming what his captors are, all while being accused of working with the CIA, though all is not what it seems.
However, as the climax crescendos, Martijn finally reveals to Ahmat that he is a terrorist operative working with a Dutch sleeper cell (that Ahmat already knows) and reveals his true purpose; with the assistance of several other associates within the European Union, he plans on using a secret bacteria to poison fast food worldwide and kill thousands of foreigners, with anyone eating any Big Mac or Happy Meal dying within 24 hours, and that he got the money backed by Saadia. After having given up the names and with his cover finally revealed, he is executed for his crimes, as the movie finally shows us that Ahmat, Aicha, and their associate were in fact CIA agents all along disguised as terrorists, and that Gavin was in fact alive the whole time since he was working with the CIA as a roper to lure Martijn to them, and the interrogation facility was in New York City all along.
Trivia[]
- Martijn is one of the few villains who we think the audience that we sympathize with believe he is trying to help children, but in actuality, is planning to poison thousands of Americans by tainting fast food with bacteria. This makes him more of the hidden true antagonist in a way, having the audience question whether his brutal acts of being tortured were for good due to the movie blurring the line of the hidden meaning of good and evil.
- When Martijn reveals his true nature to poison fast food, he is briefly mentioning and referencing McDonalds, though it is implied he is also planning to poison fast food at different food chains as well and possibly even grocery markets.
- Martijn somewhat is familiar with Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, though it is never explained if he is working with him. This truly explains about how his intentions want to spark another terrorist incident much worse than 9/11, especially since the movie was filmed and released during the post 9/11 Bush era.