by Brian Cryer
With awesome gadgets and slick style, there have been so many amazing spies throughout cinema history. Over the years, these secret agents have featured in many great spy films that have captured the attention of audiences around the world.
From James Bond to Jason Bourne, these films have been filled with fast-paced action sequences, car chases, and much more. Secret agents have been taking centre stage in movies since the earliest days of cinema. This genre has grown in popularity in the film industry with many of our most beloved spy thrillers taking in awards during awards season. But who are some of the best and most beloved secret agents in action films?
Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin – Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Eggsy might not be the typical spy if you are thinking of the smooth, slick James Bond kind of secret agent, or at least, not in the beginning. Featuring as the main protagonist in action-comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel, Eggsy goes from street rat to suave secret agent over the course of the movie.
Without ever losing his unique edge, he tackles the threat presented by Richmond Valentine played by Samuel L. Jackson. While Kingsman definitely leans into comedy, it never forgets its action roots, with some seriously brutal and exciting action sequences to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
James Bond – Casino Royale (2006) and the 007 franchise
No list could be complete without mentioning 007 as one of the top secret agents on the big screen. James Bond has been played by many actors and saved the world many times, with his signature cool and collected attitude. The iconic crane battle in Casino Royale remains one of the fan favourites, with its heart-in-mouth action. As the 007 franchise keeps growing in success, it is truly one of the most thrilling sagas which continues to move with the times.
From very recent films like Tenet to older films like Dr. No, there have been a wide range of airsoft replicas used in movies. Throughout the James Bond franchise, 007 has been known to use a variety of small and large weapons and guns. But none of them match up to the iconic Walther PPK. It’s been a gun used by Bonds such as Sean Connery and Daniel Craig, but will it still be Bond’s signature weapon in future films?
Ethan Hunt – Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018) and the MI franchise
Throughout his career, Tom Cruise has played characters in a range of action films but one of his most memorable and well-known roles is that of IMF agent Ethan Hunt. As part of the Impossible Missions Force, Ethan faces a range of obstacles and dangerous missions from scaling a skyscraper in Dubai without a harness, hanging off the back of an airplane, to tracking down a deadly Chimera disease. Ethan Hunt represents another level of super spy who will stop at nothing to make his impossible missions possible.
In Mission Impossible: Fallout, Ethan engaged in some intense and thrilling hand-to-hand combat with and also against Henry Cavill’s character, August Walker. The film includes an iconic bathroom brawl scene, featuring breathtaking hand-to-hand action, and also an epic helicopter stunt and cliff fight scene. Although Cavill has had some experience playing a spy himself, from The Man From U.N.C.L.E, as August Walker, he was successfully taken down by the unbeatable Ethan Hunt.
Jason Bourne – The Bourne Identity (2002) and Bourne franchise
An amnesia spy who still manages to carry out intense missions? Jason Bourne is an amazing addition to the pantheon of spies who will go down in action movie history. When Jason Bourne first showed up in The Bourne Identity in 2002, no one knew what journey he would go on or how beloved he would become. In the first movie, Jason Bourne is on a mission to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy.
ScreenRant shares some of the best action scenes in the Bourne film franchise, in a variety of the films, from The Bourne Identity to Jason Bourne. With so many memorable scenes created by Bourne in the movies, one favourite that still remains is the final scene of The Bourne Identity. When Bourne takes a serious risk and plunges down the shaft of a stairwell during an epic battle and shoots his final attacker right between the eyes, there is no doubting his strategy and survival skills, as well as just being exciting.
