10 Incredibly Popular Movie Heroes Who Are Totally Overrated

9. Ethan Hunt - The Mission: Impossible Series

Tom Cruise isn't an actor renowned for playing flawed characters - now in his 50s, the fact that he continually casts himself as the impeccable action her, often with women half his age playing the love interest, suggests to some that he just might have an over-inflated ego. Nevertheless - Scientology and real-world relationship woes aside - he remains hugely bankable to this day, with millions of fans around the world. The character which best defines this is undoubtedly Ethan Hunt, hero of the Mission: Impossible franchise, and while Cruise certainly deserves credit for performing his own gravity-defying stunts, Hunt himself often leaves a lot to be desired. Like so many of Cruise's on-screen personas he's just a little too perfect when it comes to both carrying out action and figuring out the villain's plan to rise above the rank of stereotypical action hero, and despite the fact that he always works with a team you can't help but feel that this is a one man show, with Hunt taking the credit for their collective victories. Perhaps the real problem lies less with the character of Ethan Hunt than with Tom Cruise's performance, although Brad Bird should be given some credit for trying to humanize the character a little more in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Still, Hunt's personality often feels like a blank canvas devoid of expression - at least Jason Bourne had amnesia as an excuse.