Movies: A Real International Woman of Mystery

Movie goers have long been enthralled by the epic tales of spies and special agents. From iconic characters like James Bond to the characters who parody them, such as Austin Powers, we are fascinated by the idea that we never truly know if there are covert agents threaded into the fabric of our everyday lives.

Most spies flicks will adopt at least two or more tropes we've come to associate with these covert operatives. From cool gadgets to high-tech software that can crack complex codes, but none of these is more visually enticing than the "perfect disguise." From the face molds of Mission Impossible, to the work van and uniforms used by FBI agents in.... well just about every movie the FBI is portrayed, seeing our on-screen agents fool the people around them with seamlessly flawless disguises can be almost as fun as actually doing it yourself.

There are so many creative ways our movie spies conceal their true identities, it begs the questions: how close do moves come to getting it right? Well, lucky for us, we stumbled upon this awesome video by the cool folks over at WIRED. In this video, Jonna Mendez, a former CIA Chief of Disguise breaks down 30 spy scenes from movies and television. Now, I know what some of you might say - and yes, you're right - some of the scenes are of characters we may not have considered "spies," but if you really think about what they're trying to accomplish and the nature of how they operate, you quickly realize they've actually fooled us all along!

When watching this, I had no doubt that many of the obvious heavy hitters in the spy movie ranks would definitely be pulling from pure imagination, but you'd be surprised! Ultimately, her breakdown may leave you wondering whether the friendly delivery guy is who he says he is.

Check out Jonna's awesome analysis here: