It's not the "Age of Ultron," it's the "AGE OF SPIES"
Did anyone notice this? No? Yes? Well I did. And for me. I think this is great! I'm sure there have been other years were a large number of spy movies have come out within the same time frame or year. But this one stands out because not since the days the Connery Bonds did Hollywood pump out this many big budget Spy Movies. Especially during an era that is dominated by Marvel Superheroes.
There is just something refreshing of having the Spy movie get a new resurgence in the public eye. And it feels highly appropriate that the first two films to kick off the Spy year are two spy comedies. The first one being more of a love letter to the classic spy genre and the other being a straight up comedy in a spy setting. And both of them are original films too. Well... Kingsman is based on a comic, but it wasn't an existing IP in film. This may be a strange way of setting things off, but it is definitely the smart move. Especially for the brilliant Kingsman, which is appropriately the first film of the era, as the film that it is both parodying and tributing is the last spy film to premier this year. And apparently Melissa McCarthy's re-team up with future Ghostbusters director, Paul Feig, is a good time, and is more about a fish out of water trying to play with the big leagues. A nice counter balance to all these seasoned veterans.
It is also interesting that this is the year that James Bond and the Impossible Missions Force are both in the mix. Not only that, with the revelation of Mission: Impossible's title, they both deal with their respective franchise villains returning. Yes, after a rights dispute, Daniel Craig's Bond gets to face off the very definition of Evil Organization in film: SPECTRE. While on the Cruise Train, the Impossible Missions Force gets to face off against their old rivals from Season Five of the original 60s-70s TV show. Yes, if you didn't know, Mission: Impossible is a loose continuation of a 60s TV show. And in the Fifth Season of that show, they went up against a rival organization called The Syndicate. However, they were nowhere near as close to SPECTRE in the evil organization department. But if the title Rogue Nation is any indicator (and a better name than Syndicate) of what they plan to do with The Syndicate, then they'll definitely be evolving as a competitor with SPECTRE for world domination.
But not to let the subject of 60s and 70s era TV shows go away, there is also Guy Ritchie's remake of The Man from UNCLE. Henry Cavill, an English actor, is playing American CIA Agent Napoleon Solo, while Armie Hammer, an American actor, is playing Russian KGB Agent Ilya Kuryakin. Yeah...Hollywood casting logic. But I think there is a lot of irony here, as Cavill always wanted to play James Bond but winds up playing an American spy who is created by Ian Fleming, the author of the 007 novels. Director Guy Ritchie also chose to keep the 60s Cold War setting intact, instead of trying to modernize it. This gives it a nice throwback feel that is more akin to Kingsman, which was a throwback in sense of style but not setting. Time will tell if this obvious franchise starter can indeed hold an audience. Judging by Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films, it is possible. But that may be because of RDJ, than for his directing.
What is shaky ground however, is Hitman: AGENT 47. While not a straight up spy movie, it definitely has spy elements ranging from crazy missions, crazy gadgets, to incredibly hot barely dressed women. But being a video game adaptation, and a second attempt at that, there is that lingering curse that video game movies are just pure shit. However this film appears to be taking a cue from Hitman: Absolution, which is a game that made Stealth an option, but if one wanted to go gun ho they could. Plus, it feels like it isn't taking itself as seriously as the previous outing with Timothy Olyphant, so there may be a chance it can be a lot more fun to watch. And it's always cool to see Zachary Quinto try something out of his comfort zone: an action movie.
In closing, this is pretty much looking like a great year for spy movies. I think the only thing that's missing from this list is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But it already came out last year so... that's a shame.
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