Ten Best Spy Movies
At first, I was going to do a Top 25, including various favourites like Tony Scott's ENEMY OF THE STATE, and John Carpenter's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, but soon decided to exclude any James Bond 007 pictures, along with Jason Bourne, and Mission: Impossible films, while I focus on espionage dramas and action-thrillers made in the 21st century. No spoof pictures, such as JOHNNY ENGLISH, or comedy-adventures like RED, or THE KING'S MAN. This top 10 list is in A-Z order.
Based on a true story, about CIA agents rescuing hostages from Iran, this ‘Canadian Caper’ is a real-life Mission: Impossible.
ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)
Charlize Theron stars in this comic-book sourced ‘Cold War’ actioner, about the fall of the Berlin Wall, that features a 10-minute fighting sequence filmed in one long-take.
BLACK WIDOW (2021)
In this great Marvel super-spies adventure, stars Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh team-up to fight a sadistic Russian villain, and his morally-bankrupt regime.
HAYWIRE (2011)
Martial artist Gina Carano performs her own stunts playing a secret agent betrayed by government officials.
Best thriller starring Clive Owen, this boasts one of the greatest shoot-outs in modern cinema.
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004)
Four decades after Frankenheimer’s original, Demme’s remake delivers significant improvements, offering far more than a colour upgrade from B&W... As expected, Meryl Streep steals the show.
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Cleverly evokes the original 1960s’ TV series, without ever feeling stuck in the past, or self-parody.
SALT (2010)
Easily a match for the best of Bourne, Bond, or Bauer, this action-thriller directed by Phillip Noyce, stars Angelina Jolie.
THE 355 (2022)
By chance, this list includes five movies about women. This one has a whole team of agents, from America, Germany, Britain, and China. They are led by ‘Mace’ (Jessica Chastain) and Marie (Diane Kruger).
One of the best sci-fi movies, and certainly the greatest ‘time-travel’ adventure, of this century.
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It's funny, though, how quickly TV took over spy-fi as a media genre... Alias, Burn Notice, Killing Eve, The Night Manager, Ponies, Marvel's Secret Invasion, and Slow Horses are some of the best shows.
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The 21st Century’s Best Spy Movies... a chronology
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
The
International (2009)
Salt (2010)
Haywire
(2011)
Argo (2012)
The Man
From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Atomic
Blonde (2017)
Tenet
(2020)
Black Widow
(2021)
The 355 (2022)
