9 Great Action Spy Movies To Watch On Stream Right Now

This weekend see the long-awaited theatrical and Disney Plus release of Black widow, the stand-alone Marvel film in which Scarlett Johansson as Natasha “Black Widow” finds Romanoff on a global adventure to save her past and save the world. Besides being the next part in the MCU, Black widow is just the latest entry in the venerable genre of espionage action thriller, which ranges from venerable Bond films and the daring Mission Impossible series to more idiosyncratic, non-franchised one-offs.

If you’re still in the mood for some more fast-paced action, global escapades, and over-the-top explosions, here are nine great spy movies to watch over the weekend.

The American

Am I already breaking the rules by choosing an assassin movie? Yeah, but it’s extremely spying taste. In 2010, George Clooney played an aging man with a gun ready to hang his scope. Very few people saw the film, and based on the film’s “D-” cinemascore in Exit polls, those who did were surprised. Instead of smooth, Bourne-like spy thriller, The American was a Euro mood piece in which the photographer and director Anton Corbijn plunged deeper and deeper into Clooney’s ice-cold gaze. Set in Rome, the film is steamy and noire and finds exhilaration in the assassin’s attempts to do one last job with as little emotion as possible. But for all its seriousness and atmosphere, the second half of the film still has a mushy, page-turner quality – think of the whole package as Bond for the art-house audience. –Matte patches

The American is available for streaming Amazon Prime Video

The Bourne Identity

Speaking of chic films that deliver what they promise, Doug Liman’s adaptation of Robert Ludlum’s 1980 spy novel is still a pulsating action thriller that features an iconic performance by Matt Damon as the amnesiac assassin and later fugitive Jason Bourne. and with some of the most addicting action choreography and cinematography you will ever see. After Jason Bourne is caught in a bullet-riddled fishing boat and has no idea of his identity, Jason Bourne finds himself in a deadly cat-and-mouse with his former handlers who believe he is a loose end to be tied up got to. The first part of the critically acclaimed Bourne trilogy, The Bourne Identity is a contemporary spy thriller classic. —Toussaint Egan

The Bourne Identity is available for streaming peacock

The conversation

Francis Ford Coppolas The conversation is a paranoia-inducing murder thriller starring Gene Hackman as Harry Caul, a surveillance expert who actually spies! – Whose professional integrity and personal morals are in direct contradiction if he suspects that he has overheard a couple whom he believes are being murdered. Embroiled in a conspiracy of veiled conspirators and unsavory violence, Harry must seek the truth behind what he experienced while staying alive. During the trip, Coppola creates an aura of paranoia with every scene that goes by, and David Shire’s piano score is a Mood. -TO

The conversation is available for streaming Hulu

Hanna

Pride and Prejudice Action thriller from director Joe Wright Hanna plays Saoirse Ronan as a 15-year-old girl who was trained to be an assassin by her deputy ex-CIA asset father Erik (Eric Bana) from birth. When the two are discovered by Marissa Wiegler (Cate Blanchett), the CIA executive tasked with recovering Hanna and her father, she faces surprising revelations about her past and existence as she tries to unite her pursuers To be one step ahead. Hanna is a slim and nasty spy thriller that hits the mark. (The Amazon series that inspired them, maybe less so.) -TO

Hanna is available for streaming peacock

I am spying

Owen Wilson and Eddie Murphy run away from an explosion in I Spy from 2002

With Eddie Murphy’s career in revival mode after that Dolomites and Coming 2 America, and Owen Wilson explodes one more time LokiNow is the time to reconsider this action comedy starring two charming leads who went like hell. Based on the 1960s television series of the same name, Betty Thomas’ 2002 buddy spy comedy 2002 I am spying Wilson and Murphy as undercover spies and famous boxers forced to band together and go undercover to prevent a notorious gunrunner from selling a stolen stealth bomber on the black market. -TO

I am spying is available for streaming Amazon Prime Video

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

IMF super spy Ethan Hunt climbs the side of a building in Dubai wearing magnetic gloves

Is Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol the best Mission Impossible movie? That is controversial. But is it the funniest Mission Impossible movie? No question. The 2011 entry by director Brad Bird (The iron giant, The unbelievable) Tom Cruise finds super spy Ethan Hunt and his IMF colleagues disavowed after a horrific attack on the Kremlin. Hunt and IMF technician Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) are tasked with clearing up their names and bringing the real culprits to justice. They travel from Moscow to Dubai and Mumbai on the trail of a renegade nuclear terrorist known only as “Cobalt” is. The large set-piece scene in which Ethan climbs the side of a skyscraper is an exquisitely nerve-wracking performance of increasing tension and hilarious comedic timing. –TO

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is available for streaming Outstanding plus

Skyfall

Sam Mendes’ twist in the venerable spy action franchise in 2012 is a dazzling, melancholy twist for the series that explores the inwardness of James Bond’s story and loyalties in ways that no previous episode (except maybe.) On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) already done. Skyfall follows Daniel Craig as he repeats his role as everyone’s favorite MI6 agent, lining up with ex-agent Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem) as he plots a global conspiracy to bring the organization to its knees and join Bond’s superiors avenge M (Judi Dench) for leaving him years ago. (Oh, and if you want your classic Bond fix you’ll have to rent it – none of the classic 007 movies are currently streamed.) -TO

Skyfall is available for streaming Amazon Prime Video

sneakers

sneakers is the feel-good crime comedy of the 90s. With a cast to become a rival Ocean 11, including Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, and David Strathairn, brings old-school criminals together with lightning-fast hackers to get one thing. But the thing and the conspiracy machinations ain’t really the catch here – sneakers is like a big ’90s hangout movie, full of retro tech and a dash of cynical Cold War vibe. The banter is funny, the plans are fine-tuned, and in the end the Republican National Committee will be completely exhausted. After you’ve seen every masterpiece from the heist film, it’s finally time to open your heart to the chilled-out alternative of sneakers. —MP

sneakers is available for streaming HBO max

Hobbyist, tailor, soldier, spy

Some of the cast from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy are seated around a table.

The platonic ideal of the spy film can be found in Tomas Alfredson’s interpretation of John le Carrés Tinker Tailor soldier spy. The film, like its characters, tries to hide its heart, but it is ultimately a tremendously warm film that defies its subdued palette and Cold War setting. George Smiley’s (Gary Oldman) search for a double agent within British Secret Service is a slow burn rather than a crush, with hints of the final revelation hidden in the music and the little moments between the characters, rather than in a broad, clear lines. –TO

Hobbyist, tailor, soldier, spy is available for streaming HBO max