Benjamin Benji Dunn is the tritagonist of the Mission: Impossible film series. First appearing as a supporting character in Mission: Impossible III, and later as a major character after appearing in Ghost Protocol. He is an English original technician and became a field agent and member of Ethan Hunt's team.
Background[]
Nothing is really known of Dunn's previous life, but it's known that he attended the University of Oxford, and presumably majored in technology and computer science. He would recruited into the Impossible Mission Force (the I.M.F.), becoming an exceptional technician, and befriend IMF agent Ethan Hunt.
Personality[]
Benji Dunn, the IMF technician turned field agent is shown to be kind and fiercely loyal to those he trusts will do the right thing, even if this means directly disobeying his government. This has been seen in all 4 films he’s appeared in thus far. Similarly to Ethan, despite being betrayed and abandoned by his government multiple times, he has not expressed any desire to leave or seek retribution. As a character his skills and composure have been shown to continuously improve. Showing he is highly interested in his job, motivated and has worked hard to become the highly skilled and respectable agent he is now.
Of all the agents shown on screen, Benji is shown to be the most outwardly afraid or stressed over the dangerous to horrific situations he finds himself in. He’s not stoic and fearless but if anything that shows how compassionate and human he is. He is willing to put himself under extreme stress and danger because he knows his skills can be useful in saving the lives of others. His fear expresses itself in numerous ways - visible unease, tone of voice or when nervous (or excited) he talks fast and unnecessarily and he is seen to apologise for 'rambling' in Ghost Protocol before during the Kremlin infiltration. Perhaps this is an attempt to calm himself or release nervous energy. He uses humour and playful banter with his colleagues/ friends but also as a way of distracting himself from dangerous or tragic situations. At the ending of Ghost Protocol he revealed that he is 'noy sleeping' and experiancing 'cold sweats in the night' following the events of the mission. His often visible fear does not however hinder his abilities as an agent or affect his composure to an extent that he can’t work.
Benji is highly intelligent but sometimes he finds himself so focused on a task at hand that he becomes less aware of other things happening e.g looking into the camera in the Kremlin (Ghost Protocol) and not realising he isn’t directing Ethan properly (Fallout).
He is shown to have a strong relationship with his colleagues, in particular Ethan Hunt who he always trusts without hesitation. Ethan in turn trusts Benji wholeheartedly too despite being betrayed so many times in the past. Benji looks up to Ethan as a mentor and a friend and in Ghost Protocol it is implied that Benji was partially inspired to train as a field agent due to Ethan. Ethan and Benji share several traits which strengthens their bond as team mates and friends, for example, Benji does not want to kill anyone on a mission unless absolutely necessary e.g Wistrom in Ghost Protocol.
Perhaps both his visible fear and occasional mistakes are a consequence of having the least amount of experience as a field agent compared to other agents/ adversaries shown on screen. Benji has been a field agent for 7 years so far compared to Ethan who has over 22 years experience as an agent (as of the events of Fallout, 2018). Regardless, Benji’s capabilities far exceed that of an average person and continue to improve with each Mission.
His hobbies include enjoying classical music and playing video games such as Halo 5 (as seen in Rogue Nation).
It would be wrong to take one look at him and write him off as a bumbling and naïve agent. While he can be funny when he wants to be, he is an extremely skilled and dedicated agent who has suffered an extensive amount of physical and mental stress/ trauma on Missions while still maintaining the courage and talent to continue as a part of the team.
Abilities[]
Benji possess a range of skills of which his most notable skill is his understanding of technology and engineering. Due to this he is a skilled hacker and understands how to manipulate a range of devices. This has been seen at various points such as the prison doors and the Burj Khalifa’s elevator shaft in Ghost Protocol and the plane doors in Rogue Nation. His scientific and technical knowledge was demonstrated when he worked out how to stop nuclear bombs specifically designed with multiple ways for them to be unstoppable.
He has hand-to-hand combat skills, greater than the average person, as seen in the opera in the Vienna Opera House and the cabin in Fallout. His skills are not to the extent that some other agents or adversaries show. However, he is not as experienced as some of the other agents/ adversaries and what he lacks in physical fighting skills he makes up for in his other abilities. Where Ethan for example is a better fighter, Benji is better with understanding and manipulating technology.
Fallout showed Benji to have a range of new skills. He is shown to be diving using a rebreather followed by steering a boat with speed and precision. He also expressed acting skills when under the disguise of journalist Wolf Blitzer and terrorist Solomon Lane. These new skills also show how his character is constantly improving his skillset and is keen to learn.
He was able to pass a polygraph (lie detector) test for multiple weeks either by controlling his physical response while lying or re-wording his answers to be the unrevealing truth. (Rogue Nation)
He is fluent in Russian as seen in both Ghost Protocol and Rogue Nation and it is likely that he understands other languages.
His shooting skills are precise, as seen when he killed Wistrom in Ghost Protocol from a distance. It must be noted that Wistrom was wrestling Brandt from behind yet Benji didn’t miss or shoot Brandt. His confidence to try that shot shows he knows he is skilled as a gunman.
Stealth and infiltration skills help him with breaking in and out of secure facilities and situations e.g the Kremlin, the opera house and stealing the information in Morocco (Rogue Nation). Also shown when breaking Solomon Lane out of the submerged van then escaping the police (Fallout).
Appearances[]
Mission: Impossible III[]
As a technician of the IMF, Benji helps Ethan Hunt analyze information from a stolen laptop. After being captured by the IMF for being accused of being a mole, Ethan escapes and goes rogue, and calls Benji for help. Benji guides Ethan through the streets of Shanghai, to save his wife, Julia Meade-Hunt. He succeeds in helping him locate Julia, and Ethan states that he owes him a drink. After the defeat of Davian, and rescuing Julia, Benji was one of many people saying goodbye to Ethan as he goes on his honeymoon with Julia.
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol[]
In between the third film and Ghost Protocol, Benji was promoted to a technical field agent, and helps Jane Carter break out Ethan. Next, he and Hunt go on a mission to infiltrate the Kremlin, but the area is destroyed by a terrorist attack. Benji and Carter reunited, and awaited for Hunt to return to a secret hideout. Hunt returns with William Brandt, and Benji learns that the IMF has been disavowed, but they can clear their names if they stop the real terrorist, Kurt Hendricks, from dropping nuclear bombs.
Ethan's team go to Dubai to gain information from Sabine Moreau and Marius Wistrom, but their cover is blown, and have to leave when being cornered by Russian operatives attempting to kill the team. The group then go to India, where Dunn, Carter and Brandt attempt to get the broadcasting station back online, they are attacked by Wistrom. Seeing that Brandt is taking too long, Benji decides to go to him, leaving an injured Carter, and saves William by killing Wistrom. The team succeeds in stopping the nuclear bomb, with Hendricks dying from committing suicide, and the Russian operators learning that their team is innocent.
Benji and group reunite, meeting Ethan's long-time friend, Luther Stickell, and Hunt tells them that they have another mission. Benji happily accepts the next mission, alongside Carter, and Brandt.
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation[]
After the IMF is shut down by CIA Director Alan Hunley, Benji finds himself stuck behind a desk once more, attending weekly polygraphs to ensure that he is not secretly helping Ethan evade the CIA. After winning tickets to a performance of Turandot in Vienna, Benji makes his way there only to realize that the tickets are a plot by Ethan to enlist his help in his search for Solomon Lane, the elusive leader of the Syndicate. After helping Ethan in Vienna, Benji insists on staying, despite Ethan asks him to leave for the sake of his safety, and the pair follows undercover MI6 agent Ilsa Faust to Casablanca, Morocco. This act aides Benji to Hunley's hit list and he becomes wanted by the CIA. After the heist on the power plant, Benji is rendered unconscious by Ilsa so that she could steal the disc that Lane is after (fortunately, Benji had made a second copy of this information). Ethan and Benji chases after Ilsa, resulting in their car crashing and flipping repeatedly.
After the crash, they joines forces with Brandt and Luther Stickell, who had been chasing them down in an attempt to find them before the CIA did. The four of them tracks down Ilsa to London, cornering her in a train station where they found out that her copy of the disc had been wiped, resulting in Lane to take drastic measures. Lane then kidnaps Benji and holds him for ransom. His demands: the disc for Benji's life. Lane strappes a bomb to Benji's chest and places him in a busy restaurant on the Thames, the explosives on both a timer and pressure trigger to force Ethan's hand. Fortunately, Ethan manages to barter with Lane for Benji's life and Lane releases Benji.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout[]
Benji aids Ethan on stopping Solomon Lane and the Apostles, the Syndicate renamed, and want to start nuclear war. He aids the team by disguising himself as CNN anchor, Wolf Blitzer, and Lane himself, being able to learn that August Walker is John Lark. Ilsa saves his life when Lane attempts to hang Benji by a noose, and Ethan is able to stop Walker for good, and Lane is arrested again.
External Links[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|