It makes sense if you think of them as extremely well-funded frat boys with a free pass to break laws.

They just kind of do shit, and if it doesn’t work they keep trying until something sticks or they run out of steam. They get killed all the time.

It’s still scary, but just a lot less cool.

The reason we think of them as hypercompetent masters of espionage is because that makes better movies, and also because the US government funds movies that make them look good.