Never tell Tom Cruise he is too short

Bond is an archetype. He’s the super-spy, which is how we tell the story of the Warrior archetype in the modern age.

Many love him, some hate him, whatever you think of Tom Cruise, he gets story.

Tom Wanted the Bond role and they told him “too short” so in classic short-man-syndrome style, Cruise just had to go and conquer the world to prove them wrong.

Bond is an archetype. He’s the super-spy, which is how we tell the story of the Warrior archetype in the modern age. How can one brave man make a difference? Not in 1–2–1 combat on the battlefield today. But as a lone spy up against a super villain? That works.

So Tom realised he didn’t need Bond. He just needed a known spy franchise with a cool theme tune that he could re-invent the archetype through. Mission:Impossible fit the bill.

What is the first foundation of story?

Wobbly start with Brian De Palma as director, past his prime and clearly only there for they paycheck. I personally love John Woo’s MI2 but I love Hong Kong action movies so it’s extremely silly aesthetic works for me.

You have to admire Cruise for grit and determination. Episodes 3 and 4 are completely forgettable. So that’s FOUR movies in the franchise and Bond is still King. Four failed shots at the crown and Tom is still willing to come back for a fifth.

And with Christopher McQuarrie they nail the formula. And the presence of Rebecca Ferguson definitely helps. Rogue Nation and Fallout finally push Ethan Hunt up to become the Top Gun of super-spies.

Now we have a double bill hitting cinema screens to try and seal the deal and bury Bond for good. I suspect Tom will succeed and younger generations will wonder why James Bond is such an obvious copy of MI.

It helps that Bond has had a long, long midlife crisis since almost recovering his cool in Casino Royale. But you can’t take the credit away from Tom Cruise…they told him he was too short to play a super spy, and he proved them wrong.