The most famous movie spy is none other thanJames Bondwho proved to be excellent at his job over and over again in dozens of movies. However, not every movie spy is on the same level as James Bond, at least when it comes to their ability to blend in with their job, not to draw attention to themselves, and alert their enemies at the most inopportune of times.
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Some movie spies don’t know the meaning of stealth and whenever they try to do their job, they often do more harm than good. In the real world, the worst movie spies would never manage to hold this job for long.
5Austin Powers
A good spy should blend in with their appearance in order not to give themselves away. Austin Powers, on the other hand, has a unique style of fashion that immediately sets him apart from anybody else, no matter where he steps. Austin’s behavior is over the top, larger than life, and it fits the tone of the movie series perfectly. Since theAustin Powersmovies function as parodies of spy movies, especially James Bond, it makes sense that Austin Powers doesn’t act the way most movie spies do.
The only advantage Austin Powers has is that his enemies might have a problem believing that he’s a spy in the first place considering he doesn’t look or act like one. Of course, it all ends well for Austin in the end, and he manages to thwart his enemies' evil plans, but stealth is a word that’s completely missing from his approach.
4Harry Tasker
To be fair to Harry Tasker, he’s nowhere near as bad at his job as other movie spies. The main problem with Harry is that he lets his emotions get the best of him when he thinks that his wife’s cheating on him. Instead of progressing in a subtle way, Harry jeopardizes his mission as well as his family by tailing Helen and threatening the man she meets.
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He kidnaps his own wife for interrogation about the presumed affair. He lets his enemies see his face and instead of sneaking out quietly, he goes away with blazing guns. Harry makes the mistake of allowing his work life and professional life to mix, which has a negative impact on his professionalism. So even though it turns out well in the end, Harry’s actions still put his family in danger, especially his young daughter. Of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s height and overall build in this movie also don’t help Harry to be more stealthy. Maybe Harry’s character will change inthe future remake ofTrue Lies.
3Roger Thornhill
Even thoughAlfred Hitchcock has a reputation as a horror director, he primarily filmed thriller movies. And the topics of double agents and spies were Hitchcock’s favorite. Roger Thornhill, played by the silver screen icon Cary Grant, is one of Hitchcock’s less competent spies. But in the case of the movieNorth by Northwest, it’s not Roger’s fault. He’s not a spy at all, only a presumed one. When the secret services mistake him for a spy and start pursuing him, Roger has to make the best of the difficult situation he suddenly finds himself in.
The movie is an excellent study of what would an ordinary man do if he was considered a spy by everyone all of a sudden and had to fight for his life. So even though Roger doesn’t understand the meaning of stealth and draws attention to himself whenever he goes, it’s not because he wouldn’t make a good spy in the future, but because he hasn’t had the chance to take on such a job before.
2Tuck And FDR
A bit similar to Harry Tasker, Tuck and FDR, the two male heroes ofthe action romantic comedyThis Means War!make the mistake of letting their emotions get in the way of their job. When the two friends who also happen to work as CIA agents fall for the same woman, Lauren (Reese Witherspoon), they start using spy toys and equipment to win her for themselves.
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That’s not a very professional approach, and it blows up in their face when they have to protect Lauren from danger, as well as to save themselves and stop the bad guy. That’s a lot of things to do at the same time, and if FDR and Tuck kept Lauren away from it all, they could have spared themselves the trouble, or at least a part of it anyway. Throughout the whole movie, FDR and Tuck don’t seem to understand that being stealthy and a spy doesn’t equal using spy equipment to win over a woman.
1Johnny English
Just like some of the movie spies who don’t understand the meaning of stealth, Johnny English,played by Rowan Atkinson, has good intentions. He just wants to protect his country and stop the bad guys. But the method Johnny chooses isn’t always the best.
He has the uncanny ability to break things at the most inopportune moments or alert his enemies that he’s there. Considering his bad luck, it’s a small miracle Johnny survived so long to retire from active missions (more or less) and start teaching young spies the secrets of the craft.
