Day 16 - Licence To Kill (1989) - Film Review

Starring: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi & Talisa Soto

Screenplay: Richard Maibaum & Michael G. Wilson

Directed By: John Glen

Certificate: 15

Brace yourselves folks! After fifteen PG rated films, 'Licence To Kill' is breaking the streak and leaping up to a 15 Certificate. I'll be interested to see what's brought this on. On the day of CIA agent Felix Leiter's wedding, before the ceremony both he and Bond apprehend the wanted drug lord, Franz Sanchez. Soon after however, Sanchez is able to bribe a DEA agent and escape, capturing and maiming Leiter and killing his newly-wed wife. Angered at what has happened to his friend and the ineffectual response from the CIA, Bond goes rogue and seeks out revenge on Sanchez, and in the process finds himself suspended from MI6.

Following a pretty damn good opening action sequence, we're treated to Gladys Knight's eponymous theme. While no 'Living Daylights', it's a really good track and an effective combination of the old and the new. It still retains that modern sound while also harking back to the older, more iconic themes such as those provided by Shirley Bassey. But what I especially like about this opening is how strongly it contrasts with much of the rest of the film. It's Bond at his peak - attending the wedding of his CIA friend Felix Leiter, even finding time to pull off a daring stunt and capture a wanted drug lord in the process. It's a lot more positive than the rest of the film, and thanks to that you feel the impact more once Sanchez escapes, Felix is maimed and his wife is killed. Felix's wife being killed so soon after they've just married would of course have a personal effect on Bond, as he's been through this before. If you've been following James Bond December, you'll know that I'm not the biggest fan of 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service', but one thing I loved about it was the ending where Bond's newly wed wife is gunned down. It's a gut punch of a scene, and while the continuity of this universe is obviously flexible, if there's anything I'm glad we haven't forgotten it's that scene. Even if it's kept alive in mere passing mentions as was the case in 'The Spy Who Loved Me', I appreciate it, and to see it influence events in this film so strongly is great to see.

But there is one pretty unavoidable flaw with the premise of 'Licence To Kill'. On paper, the idea of Bond going rogue from MI6 to hunt down someone who's personally harmed his long-time friend is a strong one. However the groundwork from prior films isn't entirely there for this to work. While Felix has been a constant presence in the series for a long time, up until now each and every appearance has seen a different actor in the role. David Hedison who plays him here reprises his role from his previous appearance in 'Live & Let Die', which is an interesting choice given that Felix appeared in just the previous film played by a different actor. I spoke about this way back in my 'Thunderball' review, but when a mostly minor supporting character is recast with every appearance, and played quite differently by each actor, it makes it hard to actually latch onto and care much about them. This hadn't been much of a problem, until now at least because it results in the basic setup of 'Licence To Kill' being weaker than it could've been. It's also pretty strange at the end of the film when Felix is shown to be recovering in hospital, he seems weirdly unfazed that his wife is dead. In fact the ending is one big load of tonal whiplash, bouncing right back to being a bit too happy and optimistic given everything that Bond goes through during the film. 

However while this premise is saddled with inherited flaws, if there's one Bond I'm glad had a film like this, it's Timothy Dalton's. This is especially so considering that this turned out to be Dalton's second and final film. We saw from 'The Living Daylights' that this Bond has a more ruthless side, and that comes to fruition here. Throw him into a situation where someone close to him is nearly killed, and pit him against someone who's willing to kill an innocent newly wed wife, much like Blofeld killing Bond's own wife, and it brings out his ugly side. I honestly can't see either Connery or Moore's versions of Bond leaving one of the people that betrayed Felix to the mercies of a hungry shark, especially with the same raw emotion or lack thereof with which Dalton plays the scene. It's quite surprising when you think about it that it took sixteen films before they decided to go for such a seemingly obvious idea of having Bond leave and actively fight against MI6. Bond fighting his fellow agents, and in front of M no less is really great stuff. And does anyone else find it adorable that Q uses his leave to come and help Bond on his mission?

Along for the ride of Bond's revenge quest, we also have Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier. Bouvier marks the second film in a row where the main Bond girl has been an actually fleshed out character - let's not get our hopes up too high but maybe this franchise has finally cracked how to write female characters on a more regular basis. Maybe it's just Lowell resembling Jodie Foster so much (at least in my opinion), but Bouvier reminded me somewhat of Clarice Sterling from 'Silence Of The Lambs', which as anyone who's seen that film should know is a high compliment indeed. In the last film we saw Bond go up against a shady political conspiracy, this time however we return to the same kind of territory as 'Live & Let Die', with Bond facing off against a drug lord and his various schemes. Incidentally, keep an eye out for a young Benicio Del Toro as one of Sanchez's henchmen. Sanchez I feel is the kind of villain that's easy to overlook, mostly because a lot of his evil deeds are carried out by other people working for him. All the same, Robert Davi is still really good in this role and infuses it with charisma. While Sanchez may not be the first villain to feed his enemies to sharks, I'm pretty sure he is the first one to throw them into a decompression chamber, cut the oxygen cord and watch their head explode. That's definitely a new one and probably one of the main reasons this film's BBFC rating shot up from a PG to a 15. That and the shredder, and Sanchez being burnt alive - yeah it's not afraid to get a bit gnarly this one.

So there we have 'Licence To Kill' and while not as strong as his first outing, it still concludes Dalton's ultimately brief stint as 007 on a high. While it's a shame that it's held back as far as its setup's concerned, the remaining film is still a good one and sets the precedent for a more violent take on James Bond. It's unfortunate that this turned out to be Dalton's last Bond film, as I really liked what he brought to the lead role and I feel he deserved and still deserves more appreciation. But at least what we got was this good, and when Bond would next return to the cinema screen, there'd be a whole new status quo all over again.

7/10

NEXT TIME - GoldenEye