Mission: Impossible 3 features one of the franchise's most intense interrogation scenes, but a former CIA intelligence operative now reveals that Ethan Hunt's techniques are all wrong. Directed by J.J. Abrams, Mission: Impossible 3 sees the return of Tom Cruise's superspy as he works to take down dangerous arms dealer Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman). One memorable scene in the film features Davian interrogating Hunt about the location of a mysterious item known only as "The Rabbit's Foot," with Davian threatening to shoot Hunt's wife.

Ahead of the Mission: Impossible 7 release date, Insider has released a new video featuring former covert CIA intelligence officer Andrew Bustamante breaking down various scenes from the franchise. According to the ex-spy, Hunt handles Mission: Impossible 3's interrogation particularly poorly for several key reasons. Check out Bustamante's full comment or watch the video below (the relevant section starts at around 6:15):

“Everything in this clip is wrong according to CIA training. During this entire negotiation Ethan is pleading, which reinforces that the principle is the one in control. Control is an incredibly important thing in an intelligence operation. You always want to be the one in control.

"This is called a hostile negotiation. We’re actually given a very specific script. We’ll repeat our name, we’ll repeat our social security number, we’ll repeat our cover. We’ll repeat whatever core truths are relevant to us in that operation, which is actually what happens when you threaten somebody. They really do oftentimes fall to this base level repetition. ‘I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it.’ So we’re trained to mimic that repeating pattern so that it protects us from giving away information. None of that is being used here by Ethan in this example.

“The trick to any negotiation is you always want to cause as much stress as possible to the other person because the person under stress is going to poor strategic decisions. Unfortunately, as I watch this clip, I’m rooting for the bad guy because he’s the one doing this right.”

Is Ethan Hunt Actually A Good Spy?

Throughout all six of the Mission: Impossible movies, Cruise's character undertakes all manner of seemingly impossible missions, often accomplishing them by the skin of his teeth with seconds to spare before worldwide calamity. While the entertainment value of the franchise is through the roof, with Cruise putting life and limb on the line to make the films as thrilling as possible, Hunt's methods are often unorthodox and sometimes even foolish.

In the beginning of Mission: Impossible 3, for example, Hunt undertakes a rescue mission for his former trainee, who is being held hostage in an abandoned factory. Not only does Hunt opt for a team that's clearly too small, but he also evidently didn't do proper reconnaissance beforehand because they all end up being ambushed by an attack helicopter. The IMF boss points out a further flaw in the mission, noting that failing to scan the trainee before rescuing her in could have resulted in the explosive charge hidden in her head taking out the whole team.

Hunt also frequently benefits from luck, with his infiltration of the submerged tank in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ending with him having to randomly choose between two drives, only one of which will save his life. This luck is present once more in Mission: Impossible – Fallout when Hunt chooses to impersonate the man he believes to be John Lark, working off of a hunch that nobody has seen Lark's face before. While it's easy to pick apart specific examples, Mission: Impossible 3 and all the other entries are still thrilling ventures and Cruise's Hunt remains a captivating screen presence.

Source: Insider