READER POLL: Spy Movies: What's Their Secret?

by Sienna Axe 

 

Hi, Cowboy. 

I love spy movies. I LOVE spy movies. I truly believe that Mission: Impossible is the single best active film franchise. Even Guy Ritchie’s slightly-ill-advised The Man From UNCLE (2015) is like catnip to me. But why? What about these sneaky little guys is so fascinating to me? I turned to my trusty old friend, the Instagram questions feature, to investigate. Here were my findings!

Response #1: “Thum tums (in spy kids)” (@moon_emojis)

Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids is a MORE than solid entry in the genre! In fact, it was probably my introduction to it—as a small child, it was one of my favorite movies of all time! I was too young to appreciate the stacked cast (Antonio Banderas! Danny Trejo! Alan Cumming! George Clooney! Tony Shalhoub! Cheech!!), but it had all the elements I would later come to love—gadgets, pacing, family dynamics, Thumb Thumbs. So I agree with this, personally!

Response #2: “spies are cool” (@carstenwb)

And you’re so right for this. My friend James (Bond) is a great example of this. The suits! The specific, annoying cocktail order! Lately, I think spies have lost a little bit of their cool factor; the genre tends to trend more toward realism of character. And I appreciate that! If you run a lot, you’re gonna look a little disheveled! Suits are not practical spywear! And it opens the door for new types of cool, too. Like my hero, Ethan Hunt!

Response #3: “The suspense and mid acting” (@davidkretzle)

Suspense, yes! Mid acting…I resent! I think spy movies call for a very genre-specific type of performance, DAVID, and most actors (at least in the mainstream spy world) are able to deliver that! I mean, hell, even famed charisma void (and cannibal) Armie Hammer managed to pull it off in The Man From UNCLE (2015)!

Response #4: “I like-a da cocktails, also I’m just a big fan of stealth games and a lot of spy movies are that” (@migos.mp3)

Cocktails plural is interesting to me, here. I’m guessing you’re referring to our friend Mr. Jim Bond’s infamous swill, but I can’t think of another drink worth mentioning. Not even in The Man From UNCLE (2015)!

Response #5: “they’re a good genre to show thrilling action with human protagonists with risk. also there’s a lot more practical action scenes within them compared to omnipresent CGI” (@ianisaguy)

I really want to hit on the practical vs. CGI thing here—because I think you’re so right! One interesting shift re: that can be seen in the Mission: Impossible franchise (including the original 60s show). I mean, the show was so dedicated to practical effects (as if they had any other choice) that they had actual, kind of bad-looking rubber masks! That’s so crazy! And now, of course, the whole focus is on our friend Com Truise and his Real And True Stunts, but when you look at the process behind something like the HALO jump in Fallout (2018)—most of the screen is CGI! And yet they still made America’s friend Thomas Mapother jump out of a plane for it—and they made another guy jump out, backwards, with an IMAX camera strapped to his chest (and no way to see while pulling focus). So that’s a fun intersection! Big fan.

Response #6: “Hijinks” (@pipertoohey)

Oh, HUGE fan of hijinks. I honestly don’t even know what to add here. They’re the heart of the whole thing! Nothing like some hijinks with the boys.

Response #7: “It’s a life of adventure and thrill that I can enjoy from my couch and fluffy blanket.” (@kellirognlie)

Yes!!! YES!!! I think on some level, we watch and read and listen to everything that we do with one question in mind: What would I do in this situation? And I think people grasp this pretty well when it comes to horror movies (“No!! Don’t go in there!!”), but projection onto spy movies is underrated! They rock because I can watch Tom Cruise shatter his ankle leaping between buildings and think, “well, I could’ve made it,” all from the safety of my inability to do a push-up. Thank you, cinema!

Response #8: “Two words: get smart” (@lolajbloom)

Dearest Lola–

Thank you for the thoughtful response! I haven’t personally seen Get Smart yet, but knowing that you recommend it has skyrocketed it to the top of my list.

Warmly,

Sienna Axe

she/her/hers

Whitman College | Film & Media Studies '23

Editor, Birdbath | Lights, WMTP

(206) 555-4660

Response #9: “Heist culture” (@shprinkles)

Response #13: “thrilling action meets mystery/problem solving” (@ar.aete)

Response #16: “they have big brain logic sometimes and make me feel smart” (@mleexlee)

Response #14: “Espionage! Espionage! Honestly I just really love the sneaking and leaving no trace” (@morgandstone)

Response #17: “camaraderie!” (@siennaxe) (that’s me!)

I’m grouping all of these together because I think they all fall under the topic of HEIST MOVIES! Which I absolutely love, and which I absolutely place under the category of spy movies. All the best spy movies have a heist! And what I love about a heist, above all else, is that you can’t do it alone. You have to get together and plan outfits and backstories with all your funny little theater kid friends. You have to have at least two people in a little love/hate relationship with each other. Sometimes, you even have to have a guy who can, like, do flips and make himself really small. You even all have little earpieces so you guys can hang out and chat while you’re doing your funny little performance art piece! It’s so perfect! I’ll watch one million of them forever! It’s part of the reason why I love Mission: Impossible, too: in the first movie (spoilers for Mission: Impossible (1996)), Ethan’s entire team is killed right at the beginning. And that stays with his character! It informs half of the insane decisions he makes—he doesn’t want to lose another team! So awesome. So, so awesome.

Response #10: “The cool gadgets, (also andor was fun and it’s basically Star Wars spy’s)” (@zac3612)

Response #11: “Tricks, stunts, gadgets, and silly little outfits” (@suzanna.gg)

Response #15: “hot ppl and cool little gadgets” (@screamopilled)

YES!! THE GADGETS!! I love a stupid little camera pen, or a stupid little exploding pen, or a stupid little stick of gum that explodes when you fold its two sides together. And more than just gadgets, I love the gadget guys. The James Bond franchise’s Q. The guys from John Wick (not strictly a spy movie) who give him all his coolest guns. Mission: Impossible’s Benji Dunn (the guy of all time. I’m not exaggerating). I adore when a movie comes up with a stupid little contraption—it’s why I love the Saw movies so much! A production team had to come up with all of those traps together! If it’s something I have absolutely no use for, but would have yearned for at the age of 8, it’s a perfect gadget.

(Also, to the point of hot people and silly little outfits: yeah.)

Response #12: “sometimes there are colorful large cats. i like that shit” (@_raquelio)

Raquel, you have GOT to tell me what movie you’re talking about. I feel crazy. I can’t think about anything else. Are you talking about Cats (2019)? I really, really have to know.