Ethan Hunt - The Stoic Spy

Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, AKA Tom Cruise was born on July 3rd, 1962. Tom Cruise is the Hollywood’s Superstar who brought the 1966 TV Series ‘Mission Impossible’ to the big screen and chose the illustrious Brian De Palma to direct the first edition that changed the trend forever in the spy thrillers genre. On an in-depth analysis, I observed that Ethan Hunt the protagonist of the Mission Impossible franchise is more than a mere secret agent. Hunt, the most coveted IMF Agent has human values never manifested until now in any spy thriller movies. Agent Ethan Hunt is not the Casanova who seduces each and every female character that he comes across, neither his costume boasts of any brand of suits he wears nor the embellishments on his wrists are exotic. Ethan Hunt does not crave for unwanted pleasures, neither he is a connoisseur for the gourmet or at the bar, and he sleeps in bunkers and shacks caring less of five-star comforts and room service. The character emanates virtue which inspires his teammates who remain loyal to Ethan more than they are to the Agency. Hunt for the sake of the world and his friends does not hesitate even to defy the rules of IMF. Added to the virtuous character, the death defying stunts on and behind the screen, are Tom’s forte which no other star had ever stretched such far, including Jackie Chan the famous Chinese action hero.

Going to the early silent film era, the stunts and their choreography by Buster Keaton were just awesome, later it was Burt Lancaster who thrilled the audience with his acrobatics in films such as ‘The Crimson Pirate’ and ‘The Flame and the Arrow’ in 50’s. Lancaster was a powerful athlete since his youth and was performing stunts in a circus before he entered into the world of cinema. In the 70’s during my college days we were thrilled with Jean-Paul Belmondo the French superstar for his stunts in ‘Fear Over the City’ ‘Burglars’, ‘Animal’, ‘The Brain’, etc. The iconic climax scene in the ‘Fear Over the City’ a film similar to ‘Dirty Harry’ in its theme, was unforgettable where Belmondo swings in the air hanging on to the rope-ladder of a chopper and crashes into the glass panes of the skyscraper to confront the villain. To sum up, all these were indeed fantastic stunt movies.

Having born in the family of cinema business, obviously I was a movie buff since my childhood. It was also one of the main reason the elders of my family dispatched me to a Boarding School at the age of seven, for I used to sneak with my grandfather during his evening visits to either of our two cinema theatres. Even though the passion for cinema was always about the stars and music, after my teens I was critical about their storyline and screenplay. I also resented plagiarism. These analytics slowly combined with my unbiased perception made people around me very uncomfortable. In this process, James Bond of whom I was a great fan since my first movie ‘Goldfinger’ weaned over the years when new stars reprised as Bonds after Sean Connery. I felt that the later Bond editions even though were entertaining with gadgets and stunts performed by doubles, they were quite unnecessary, and less engrossing in comparison to the earlier classics. Then came Ethan Hunt of the Mission Impossible in 1996 that changed the entire scenario.

The British Agent reigned for more than a half century since 1962, and Hollywood made poor imitations of OO7 movies between the late sixties and early seventies. Dean Martin as agent Matt Helm of the spy franchise ‘The Silencers’, ‘The Ambushers’ etc., or even the James Coburn’s ‘Our Man Flint’ were more of a parodies of Bond movies that did not deserve to be measured for comparison. Undisputedly, Sean Connery stood out with his magnetic persona, as the USP of the franchise. It was the other attractions such as the gadgets and guns that the Hollywood filmmakers tried to emulate from Bond movies. Resultantly Hollywood failed to match the perseverance for quality achieved by Bond franchise producers, Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli who with the exceptional grooming of the character by Terence Young since Dr. No starring Sean Connery breathed immortality into the character of James Bond OO7 originally created by Ian Fleming.

On the other hand, Ethan Hunt is a warm-hearted character, caring about friends, and taking risks in performing the impossible; unlike the British Spy who is cold and loyal only to Her Majesty and ‘M’. Ethan Hunt is a stoic; he is the mitigator of any global crisis taking risks with strenuous efforts. Bond uses escape pods, fancy parachutes to eject from a crisis situation, and with his exceptionally well-tailored suit undamaged on him. Whereas Ethan Hunt does the impossible; he jumps from aircrafts navigating above 10,000 ft and does skydiving in real, chases villains by helicopter or drives a car like an eccentric. All these deathly stunts are performed by the actor Tom Cruise in flesh and blood as Ethan Hunt with no stunt doubles. Sean portrayed Bond with serious concern not only about the arch villain Blofeld but also of poisonous hairy tarantulas and vicious old women with a poisonous knife switched from the toe of her shoe. Bond is a tailor-made legendary character created by Ian Fleming, but only on celluloid, hence only it remained as a fantasy. After Sean, the later Bonds did nothing other than to bask under the reputation established by Sean. One should be a mortal to mitigate a global crisis and should have the ethical values to resolve such issues. Unlike Bond’s ‘Q’ who moves his lab ridiculously from England, to Egypt, or India, or Brazil; Hunt’s teammates Benji, Luther, and Brandt, travel along with him taking part in all ‘Impossible’ operations. The stoic spy gives us a message that no single person can alone vanquish evil, and that it needs a powerful support team to succeed in such impossible missions.

In 1985, I toured along with an elite group of Vijayawada to Tokyo World Exposition, and I happened to see the last edition of Roger Moore as Bond, ‘A View to Kill’ at a theatre during our last hop at Singapore; and I was terribly disappointed. The antagonist Christopher Walken impressed me more than Bond. Later, I read the review of the Bond movie in the Newsweek stating ‘cast a baboon as Bond and it still is a box-office hit’. If OO7 is ‘licence to kill’, Ethan Hunt is ‘licensed to protect lives’. I wish to recall the unforgettable scene in ‘MI-6: Fallout’ where Hunt is upset when a French traffic policewoman is shot by goons with whose boss he had struck a deal earlier. Hunt gets furious and kills all the four goons, and reaches swiftly to the wounded policewoman comforting her that she will survive and advises her to call her friends for help on the radio. That’s the core character of a stoic; the concern for others. The legacy of Sean Connery might surely continue for a hundred years; but Ethan Hunt might end with Tom Cruise as he is the real-life hero and not Hunt. I doubt if any actor will risk his life to entertain audience as Ethan Hunt after Tom. I am eagerly looking forward for MI-7 and not for the next Bond edition. I think it is time for the British Spy to fade for all reasons. ‘Skyfall’ as a movie is realistic after a long time but can only be listed after the earlier classics like ‘From Russia with Love’ the favourite movie of John F. Kennedy. If JFK, the 35th President of USA would have been alive today, he would have become a great fan of Ethan Hunt agreeing that his Stoic values are immeasurable. Ethan Hunt is the mortal body, and the astral body is Tom Cruise, which is not the case with Bond; it is the shoes and shadow of Sean Connery that was inherited by the later Bonds. Considering Roger Moore, or the other Bonds since Thunderball, with a little exception of Pierce Brosnan none registered any meaningful contribution. Bond is a legacy whereas Hunt is a role-model and an inspiration to whoever faces a challenge in an impossible mission. Bond movies which were once a child’s fantasy, have now turned erotic stuffed with unreasonable violence; whereas Agent Ethan Hunt is a beacon of human values ready to perform impossible tasks which motivates even a commoner to stay calm and reason first and then find a solution. Post-Sean, Bond movies were extremely attractive on the technical front only, and not on the storyline, nor in performance by the actor bringing extra to the table. Of late, the original Bond had evolved into an assassin, which is no fun to watch. Vehicles in Bond movie are based on technology and gadgetry which anyone can drive after going through the manual or instructions from ‘Q’; but in MI franchise, it is Tom Cruise who impresses the audience with his own dare devilry stunt skills. It is not only just motor cycles, but cars, aeroplanes and helicopters too. Tom Cruise challenges death to thrill his audience, ensuring that the viewer recovers every cent paid at the Box.

A few years ago, I was arguing a case for almost one hour for an urgent direction before a Magistrate at Medchal, a rural district of Hyderabad, and no sooner my representation ended the Learned Magistrate looked at me discontentedly and advised, ‘Mr. Counsel, you seem to have got into the skin of your Client, and that’s not good” he continued as I was curious of what he would say next, “I caution you that an advocate should be like the lotus leaf resistant to the water despite floating on it.” I stood there confused unable to comprehend whether I succeeded or failed in convincing the Court. Had I not communicated in the manner it should have been, the Magistrate would have not felt the agony my Client was undergoing. It was one of the few cases I had I failed, but my Client consoled me that it was a compliment from the Judge, and not a complaint.

Scientology is a religion that was founded in the 50s by L. Ron Hubbard. At the core, Scientology is a belief that each human has a reactive mind that responds to life's traumas, clouding the analytic mind and keeping us from experiencing reality. Tom Cruise, a staunch disciple of the religion evidently radiates these traits in his character of Ethan Hunt. What really makes a person ‘super’ is the virtue or human values. Ethan Hunt played by Tom is not one of those ‘superheroes’ who blasts off into the sky with a cape or a custom-made turbo-powered metal suit. Agent Hunt manifests the real superhero who goes beyond the physical boundaries with extraordinary skills to save the world, and his friends. Whatever the scriptwriter or the stunt director might design the impossible daredevilry rescue missions, Tom Cruise makes it just possible by getting into the skin of the character with sincerity to entertain his audience, and never even attempts to cheat them either with ropes or with support of Industrial Light & Magic. The best part is that he surpasses his earlier editions with innovative and impossible physical stunts giving a new twist in the storyline, avoiding to repeat the earlier themes. Unlike the fantasised British Spy, Ethan Hunt is very much a reality in flesh and blood always challenging the impossible. In fact, it is not Ethan Hunt, but the player Tom Cruise who lives the role and makes it possible. To save the world from its arch-enemies, one had to be a stoic first, which Tom Cruise and his alter-ego Ethan Hunt truly are.

(The above are only the opinions the Author while comparing the iconic two super-spies)

(The photos of Ethan Hunt, have been downloaded from Wallpaper Flare expressly agreeing to the Copyright Policy, not to misuse the wallpaper photos, and the Author assures responsible content in this blog)