2. Mission: Impossible
An agent forced to go rogue for a crime he didn’t commit? Check. A double-cross by the man who was supposed to be his truest friend? Check. A bunch of self-destructing video tapes, scarily realistic latex masks, and eyeglasses with hidden cameras? Check, check, and check. Need I go on?
Framed and branded a traitor, Ethan Hunt becomes a fugitive after he is blamed for a failed operation. Mission: Impossible has some of the most daring feats of any of these films, as Hunt decides the only way to prove his innocence is to break in the CIA headquarters.
I’ve seen it countless times, and I still can’t watch the scene where Tom Cruise dangles from the ceiling by a thread without breaking into a sweat. Furthermore, there are few scenes as exhilarating as the one that takes place on top of the train (and to the side of it, and in the air around it, and on the helicopter following it).
With the talent Cruise has shown as a rogue agent, we ought to just frame him for a real crime and then film him escaping countless government agents. Now that would be quality reality TV.
1. The Bourne Trilogy
He can tell you the license plate numbers of all six cars outside. He can tell you that your waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. He knows the best place to look for a gun is the cab of the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, he can run flat out for a half mile before his hands start shaking. But he can’t tell you who he is, or why they are after him, which makes him the ultimate agent gone rogue.
It should be no surprise to anyone that The Bourne Trilogy secured the top spot on our list. That is unless they had some kind of amnesia and forgot first watching these movies. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne is the reason so many films of this genre have been released post-2002. The Treadstone trained Bourne got fans excited about a rogue agent in ways they never had before.
The entire trilogy is a fast-paced, thrill ride that is over before you know it. Bourne’s wheels are always turning, and so are the wheels of the plot, progressing the films along in a magical whirlwind. I plan to spend an evening re-watching the trilogy once a year, but when it’s been more than 2 or 3 months since I’ve seen them, I start craving another viewing to the point that I cave in and watch the whole trilogy again.
For so many reasons, Jason Bourne is the perfect agent gone rogue and his series of films without a doubt, stands at the top of this genre.
So that’s my list. Now it’s your turn, go ahead and watch all your favorite agent gone rogue films before you see The Bourne Legacy and tell us which films you would put on this list.
