Jason Bourne.
Philip and Elizabeth Jennings.
Secret Squirrel.
People love spies and secret agents in all their many variations. Since World War II and the beginnings of the Cold War, tales of spies have populated literature, film, and television, and no fictional spy has gained as much notoriety and acclaim as the many incarnations of James Bond. Even as Ian Fleming’s 007 has become the gold standard of the genre, though, several characters have done their best to challenge the champ for the title belt.
Arguably, no one given Bond a better run for his money than Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible film series. Brought to life by the ageless Tom Cruise, Hunt has become known for his insane stunts and penchant for going rogue. With Hunt’s latest big screen appearance, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, hitting theaters everywhere this week to great anticipation, the question remains: is Ethan Hunt a better spy than James Bond?
The answer might surprise you, but both men are actually terrible spies. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a spy is “one who keeps secret watch on a person or thing to obtain information.” The important word there is “secret.”
In Casino Royale, Bond boldly refuses to use an established alias when entering a high stakes poker game against a terrorist financier. Blame the move on arrogance or inexperience, the fact remains that blowing your own cover on purpose is about the worst thing a spy could do. Hunt, meanwhile, is so bad at keeping a low profile that the U.S. government has had to disavow or disband the Impossible Mission Force (IMF) twice. You have to be pretty bad at doing things secretly to have your entire secret agency shut down.
Similarly, both men have an unfortunate record of getting captured by the very people they’re tracking. In Mission: Impossible III, Hunt manages to get not just himself but also his wife, Julia (Michelle Monaghan), captured by terrorist Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Three films later, Hunt is in such a bad jam that he would surely have been tortured to death without the intervention of double agent Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson).
In all but one of Daniel Craig’s four James Bond films, the British spy is apprehended and interrogated. While getting caught was part of the plan for arresting Silva (Javier Bardem) in Skyfall, Bond won’t be winning any trophies for his stealth anytime soon. Even worse, Sean Connery’s Bond is captured at least once in every single one of his movies, so, this problem goes all the way back to the character’s earliest forays in film.
If James Bond and Ethan Hunt are both so bad at integral parts of their jobs, what makes them two of the best spies in fiction? In one word: style. We as viewers have come to associate spies with so many other qualities than secrecy and stealth, and that is where our favorite agents from MI6 and IMF earn their stripes.
What Bond lacks in discretion and subtlety, he more than makes up in suavity. If asked to describe James Bond, most people would mention his love of women, specially prepared martinis, and tuxedos. What makes Bond such a great spy, then, is his allure. His ability to seduce women and use people to acquire intel highlights his prowess as a charmer and master manipulator.
Knowing how to stay cool under pressure (especially when captured and tortured) and deliver a well-timed quip (or double entendre), 007 has an unflappable confidence and mystique that make him the very essence of cool. These intangible qualities may not be requirements for getting a job in espionage, but they have undoubtedly become synonymous with the field.
Ethan Hunt also possess a certain degree of levelheadedness, yet his skill as a spy is much more linked to the physical feats he performs. During every Mission: Impossible movie, you will encounter at least one moment of Hunt doing something no sane person would ever attempt. Climbing up a skyscraper. Hanging from the side of a plane. Holding onto a helicopter for dear life. It’s a good thing that Tom Cruise isn’t afraid of heights.
On top of that, Hunt and the rest of his IMF team pull off elaborate heists that entail everything from impersonating government officials to holding his breath for an ungodly long time. To find out what makes Hunt such a good spy, one need only look at the title of each movie; taking on and accomplishing seemingly impossible, death-defying missions, Hunt is as much a spy as he is an acrobat, escape artist, impressionist, and athlete.
But who is the better spy? Sorry not to give you a straight answer, but this is the ethically and politically gray world of espionage we’re talking about. Ultimately, both Bond and Hunt are lousy at ostensibly the most important parts of their job but more than make up for it with their particular skill sets. Each person is equipped for certain types of missions and, given the right circumstances, can perform those duties with awe-inspiring results. If you want subtlety and stealth, though, you’ll have just as much luck with Secret Squirrel and Perry the Platypus.
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