Recent blockbusters have been saturated by mediocrity. They’ve lost their magic, have failed to suspend our disbelief, and have championed scale rather than vision. For some time it seemed these films had met their match, that they would perish at the hands of the ultimate cinematic doomsday scenario; boredom. Leave it to filmic spies new and old to save the day.
Back in 2006, and after the self-parody Die Another Day, James Bond returned to the big screen in Casino Royale, a film that brought the character back to the drawing board. Gadgets were replaced with brawn and wit with bloodied knuckles. The franchise was revitalized. The gritty trend that followed on the coat tails of Jason Bourne continued for Daniel Craig’s past outings as Bond, but this year’s newest installment, Spectre, is totting another disguise altogether.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol lit the fuse that set these events into motion. Helmed by Brad Bird (Tomorrowland) the film reminded movie-goers what the genre was all about; gadgets, international intrigue, practical stunts, and a tongue-in-cheek group dynamic. The film was inventive, fun, and harkened back to the 1960s, a time when spy films ruled the world.
2015 offers the most populated spy film roster in recent memory. The year opened with Kingsman: The Secret Service, an unexpected box-office hit and modern day Pygmalion. The quirky film reintroduced the trope of a villain vying for world domination and the well-dressed gentleman, all while leaving its own mark with a brutal fight scene that will go down as one of the best in film. If you haven’t seen it, avoid the YouTube spoilers and experience it via its recent home release.
Melissa McCarthy’s Spy contributed to the trend by poking fun at the genre, offering up her typical dose of crass and accident-prone comedy. The film received favourable reviews from critics and proved that imitation is the truest form of flattery – especially at the right time with Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation joining the chase. The fifth installment in Tom Cruise’s cinematic running career is a franchise worthy of the praise. It’s an absolute thrill to watch Cruise push himself in death defying stunts worthy of his fictional moniker. Rogue Nation continues in the path blazed by Ghost Protocol with its use of memorable gadgets and some of the most tightly orchestrated action seen in cinema. The editing during the film’s multi-faceted opera scene is a marvel to behold.
One of the last contenders is The Man from U.N.C.L.E., based on the MGM television program that debuted in the 60s and was created in part by Ian Fleming, the man behind Bond. Early reviews are varied, but judging from trailers its looks to be an inspired and stylish outing.
With Spectre, James Bond returns to the cinema landscape that he pioneered. Craig dons the tuxedo once more to tackle SPECTRE, the evil organization that has haunted Bond since some of the franchise’s earliest films. From the promotional materials shown thus far it looks like Craig’s tenure is heading in the opposite direction from which it started. Gadget laden cars are making their return assumedly with a few other techno tools for Bond to use once the audience has forgotten about them and when he must escape his death. These films, the ones that defined the genre, seem to be following the trend, hop on the nostalgia bandwagon.
This year of spies is not the product of coincidence. In an action film climate that is dominated by computer generated superhero flicks, audiences are looking for a new escape, a forged passport to a simpler time when the enemies weren’t space monsters or robots, but our fellow man. In some ways our world resembles that of the Cold War in which these spy films were born. Our enemies can’t be defeated on the front. They lurk in the shadows like the spies of decades past. Like James Bond and Ethan Hunt we aren’t fighting countries, but organizations that threaten our safety and our way of life. Summer blockbusters have been made to distract us from our villains. They’re meant to be fun, exciting, to make us laugh and revel at the feats accomplished on screen, but they needn’t be dumb, simplified, and devoid of heart and vision.
Spy films and their fantastical tropes have the potential to do all of these things and provide us with something memorable in the process. 2015 may be the best year for the genre both in quantity and quality. And who knows, maybe Hollywood will exploit the genre in the coming years, but until then these missions, should you choose to accept them, are worth the price of admission.