If any of the spies in our MOVIE SMACKDOWN "SPY-VS-SPY" SMACK actually existed, then Osama bin Laden would probably be old news by now. Maybe the fact that the real dangerous work of spying is so, well, dangerous and such hard work is the reason we like our fantasy spies to kick ass for us in the movie theaters. These guys get the job done. The bad guys get what's coming to them unlike real life where pesky issues like national sovereignty get in the way.
There's a new spy with an attitude in town thanks to this weekend's "Taken" which pulled in almost $25-million at the box office with Liam Neeson playing Bryan Mills. He joins the already swelling ranks populated by Daniel Craig's James Bond, Matt Damon's Jason Bourne and Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt. In our poll, we've thrown in Harrison Ford's Jack Ryan for good measure.
You can vote for your favorite spy and your first runner-up in this poll.
Beau… that’s a GREAT analysis of this. I’m going back in and change my vote!!
I’m gonna have to go with Daniel Craig’s James Bond–but just Daniel Craig’s. He’s very no nonsense, he likes to break bones, has no reservations in killing someone (like Bourne does, or at least gets broken up about it if he has to), and has stamina, strength, and is also quite smart when you look at it.
If I have to go smuggle secret information from enemy territory and get stopped in a back alley by enemy agents, I want Daniel Craig on my side.
Sure, Bourne would be nice, but he’d probably have some sort of episodic mental flashback mid-fight and would prove useless. Or, at the very least, I’d have to coddle him aftewards about having to kill and he’d probably make me dye my hair or something.
Mills seems only motivated if his daughter’s involved–and I am not his daughter.
Ethan Hunt would probably start rambling about Katie Holmes and ask to convert me and the enemy to scientology–plus the guy tends to be a bit to reactive in his movies than proactive. Plus, Ethan relies way too much on luck–the luck of a helicopter killing the enemy, the luck of a gun being buried in the sand right by his foot when he’s about to get shot, the luck of a car driving past just as you fight the villain…and if you notice, things only tend to work out for Ethan, and not the people he works with.
And well, Jack Ryan…I’m not family and isn’t that really the backbone to any Jack Ryan film–the people I love are in danger?
Craig’s your amoral killer with a firm sense of duty to the mission, and not to family, friends, lovers, or mental illnesses.
A film where Bryan Mills and Jason Bourne square off, now I would love to see THAT!
“Taken” was fun to watch — Liam Neeson put the beat down on some bad guys
I like Bryan Mills. He’s very efficient compared to the other characters.
No non-sense attitude, just getting the job done. Of course, this also
made the character too unreal. But if you need an efficient super agent,
Mills would be the perfect choice.