License To Kill (1989)

Timothy Dalton impressed me greatly in "The Living Daylights," bringing a cold seriousness back to the character of James Bond that had been sorely lacking for some time, definitely since Connery but arguably all the way back to "From Russia With Love" in 1963. It was a great change of pace to see the series grow up a little bit from the cartoonish sideshow it had become under the wacky yoke of Roger Moore. And after Dalton took the lead, the series was set to finally give us a Bond film that was adult and pretty freaking dark, almost like an experiment to see how far the franchise could push it and still maintain its audience.

And while it remains the least successful Bond film when talking about the US box office (despite it still being a respectable moneymaker worldwide), "License To Kill" is, in my humble opinion, one of the absolute best entries in the entire series. It showcases Dalton giving his best performance as Bond, some of the most hard-hitting, exciting action to be seen up to that point, and a storyline that is still probably the darkest one they've ever attempted. There's nothing cheeky about this. There are few things that are lighthearted in it. This film is about one thing and one thing only: James Bond getting really mad and laying a titanic smack-down on the poor fools who dared to piss him off. And I had a great time watching it.

At the beginning of the film James Bond is in Flordia attending the wedding of his good buddy Felix Leiter (David Hedison), but that doesn't mean that the two of them don't have to time to stop an international drug lord, Sanchez (Robert Davi), from escaping on their way to the church. So Bond simply jumps on to Sanchez's plane from a helicopter, lassoing it and pulling it out of the air. Then they both parachute out, landing outside the church right in time for the wedding like a collective boss.

I didn't know Bane was in the Coast Guard...

Unfortunately for Felix, things don't work out very well after that. Sanchez escapes after bribing a DEA agent, and he's not too happy about the whole situation. So his solution is to kill Felix's wife and feed Felix to a shark. After finding Felix missing a few appendages and having a note on him reading "He disagreed with something that ate him" (which is kind of darkly hilarious), Bond swears vengeance, going so far as to resign his post after M orders him to stand down and leave. Tracking down Sanchez, Bond poses as an assassin for hire in order to get close to him, which puts him in the middle of a huge drug trafficking ring. While digging himself deeper and deeper into Sanchez's operation, Bond covertly screws with him, using deceit and stealth to pick his operation apart bit by bit while ingratiating himself with Sanchez the whole time.

It's some of the most clever scheming we've seen Bond do, although that isn't that tall of an order, really. Let's be honest: Most of the time he kind of stumbles across clues and leads, and his good fortune is often the only reason he succeeds at all. How many times have we seen Bond get captured, only to retroactively look back and realize that had he not gotten caught, something he usually tries to avoid, the villain would have gotten away with everything? Being lousy at stealth seems to be the best thing that usually happens to Bond. Hell how many times has he been saved at the last minute by someone else? I still can't believe that he's wound up straddling a nuclear bomb not once but twice and has had to have someone else stop it out of nowhere since he has no idea what he's doing. It's just nice to see him in charge of a situation for a change instead of flying by the seat of his pants, although the man is forced to improvise occasionally.

You know, sometimes you're scuba diving, you see a plane, you gotta get away so you think to yourself "I'm gonna harpoon that plane," so you do, and you ski behind it a bit till it takes off and then you jump on the plane and fly away. We've all been there.

Dalton is on fire here, showcasing Bond at his most rage filled and vengeful we've seen him up to this point. There are scenes when he's talking to Sanchez in which I wasn't actually sure whether or not he was going to be able to contain himself and not just jump up and tear the guy's throat out with his teeth. But it's all part of the bigger plan. Bond wouldn't be content with simply killing him - He's going to DESTROY him. You can tell that he's both enjoying the hell out of toying with the bastard and kicking himself constantly for not putting one between his eyes already. It's fantastic.

"License To Kill" is also interesting because, apart from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," this is the most personal we get with Bond in terms of his relationships. "OHMSS" had his marriage and whatnot, but in "License To Kill," by starting off with Bond chumming about with his friends (who are about the only friends we've ever seen him have in the series) it grounds him far more as a character. We actually see his relationships with them as opposed to just being told they're his friends. That means that when bad things happen to his friends we understand why Bond is so pissed, and we empathize with him even when he's probably going a bit too far in terms of killing people in revenge. It's really the only Bond film that's done that to this extent.

Look how pissed he is. He's going to assemble the holy hell out of that gun.

The plot reminds me of "Quantum of Solace," although "License To Kill" is a much better movie, mostly due to the action being decipherable and easy to follow. It's got that same dark, intense story with Bond being more like The Punisher than a secret agent. But the difference is that while "License To Kill" is dark, it is still possessing of a certain "action movie esprit de corps" that allows it to be fun in an "Oh he just WRECKED that guy!" way, as opposed to simply being a slog through a depressed rage with an overly shaky camera and no fun to be found anywhere, which is exactly what "Quantum of Solace" ended up being.

The supporting cast is very strong, which isn't always the case. I liked Pam Bouvier as Carey, the Bond girl and CIA agent who helps James out in his investigation. I was a fan of hers because she's probably one of most useful female leads in the series, and definitely one of the more competent. She's a straight-up badass, too, packing more heat that Bond usually does when, upon us first meeting her, she whips out a shotgun like it's nothing and gives him a look like "What, you don't have one of these?" And I'm pretty she actually saves Bond more times than he saves her. How many Bond girls can you say that about?

The villain was cool, with Robert Davi doing his best Raul Julia/Joaquim de Almeida impression. I took great pleasure in watching how cold and methodical he was in every horrible thing he did. Even when he seals a guy in a decompression chamber and does things to the pressure so as to make the dude's head explode, there's really not much malice behind it. He's not even that mad. It's strictly business, and that makes the things he does almost more horrible. And having his main henchman be a young Benicio Del Toro doing his weird Benicio Del Toro thing was pretty fun, too. It was like Del Toro was playing Davi's wild, cracked out side that he couldn't himself display because he had to be the boss, and I liked that.

He does a good Christian Bale impression, too. Quick, somebody get that man two hookers and crank "Sussuido."

This is also by far the most screen time Desmond Llewelyn ever got as Q, and seeing him out in the field was an absolute delight. He's still doing his grumpy, exasperated "Pay attention, 007" bit, but now he gets to behold his gadgets in action, and you can kind of see the giddy pleasure he gets out of it. And any excuse to see more of Q is always a welcome thing to these films.

Oh for crying out - you are so holding that hat there on purpose.

I seriously liked this movie a lot. It's such a shame that Dalton only got two films to be Bond, because he had the potential to completely make the character his own. Now, he did manage to do that during his short tenure, but a couple more films would have cemented his legacy as more than just a passing reference and the only Bond actor brought up as little as George Lazenby. But alas, the next Bond film after "License To Kill" took a very long six years to get made. So long in fact, that Dalton declined to return for it. In many ways that's a damn tragedy, because it turned out to be one of the best films of the entire franchise. On the other hand, it also introduced the guy who was the Bond I grew up with, and whom I have nothing but great affection for. It also marks the beginning of the modern Bond film, for better and for worse. Either way, I'm excited.

Just watch Dalton deliver the line "I'm more of a problem eliminator" and tell me he's not tearing it up.

THE BOTTOM LINE - "License To Kill" is a fantastic movie. It's action packed, it's clever, it's well acted, and it's also very well shot and put together, having had the 80's to figure out how to actually edit an action movie properly. It's difficult to argue that it's one of the darkest entries in the series, which may alienate fans of the more goofy films, but we'd been getting that crap for over twenty years. It was time 007 grew the hell up. Dalton is a dynamite Bond, and he spends the vast majority of this movie kicking ass. It's an awesome time. If you're picking a short list for the definitive Bond films to check out, make sure this one is on it.

JAMES BOND

WILL RETURN IN

"GOLDENEYE"

The Living Daylights (1987)

An ordinary hamburger can quickly become the most delicious meal you've ever had providing that all you've had to eat for months up to that point were old sardines on stale saltine crackers. Now, I'm not calling Timothy Dalton ordinary or "The Living Daylights" standard. In fact I'm a big fan of Dalton's portrayal of James Bond, and were he a hamburger he'd be at the very least a double Baconator from Wendy's. I am, however, calling Roger Moore an old sardine. And at this point I'm starting to lose grasp on this analogy, so I'll drop it and simply state that the breath of fresh air that Dalton provided to the Bond series was nearly a religious experience. Or perhaps like bacon. We can go with that.

After "A View To A Kill," Roger Moore was finally put out to pasture and the search for a new Bond began. They decided on Dalton, who had been considered for the role years earlier when they were thinking about retiring Moore the first time. But famously, "Never Say Never Again" happened, which meant that Dalton would have to wait while Moore puttered about, mugging at the camera and trying not to break a hip. After remembering that they were supposed to be making spy movies, in 1987 they decided that the Bond films needed to grow up a bit and made "The Living Daylights," a fantastic return to form that not only gave respectability back to the character of James Bond, but also to the films themselves since they ceased being borderline comedies.

"Hey man. 'Sup? Naw, bro. I'm just chilling on a yacht. Dude, you should have seen it. I was hanging off the roof of a jeep that went off a cliff and exploded. It was insane. So what're you doing? Oh, hold on a sec man. I think this lady here wants some Vitamin J, you know what I'm saying? Haha. Yeah man. You know it bro! Peace."

This time out Bond is tasked with stopping the killing of British agents. Acting as a counter-sniper, he smuggles a defecting Soviet general, Koskov (Jeroen Krabbé), back to England, who tells Bond that the killings have been done under the orders of the new head of the KGB, General Pushkin (John Rhys-Davies). Knowing Pushkin, Bond is initially skeptical of the general going crazy, but he nonetheless takes the assignment to kill him after Koskov is captured again after an assault on the safe-house, and further damning evidence on the body of 004.

Tracking down the female sniper who tried to kill Koskov during his defection, Bond finds not only his Bond girl of the film, but further information that makes the situation far more complicated. It all involves Koskov staging his defection, Pushkin joining forces with Bond, a crazy arms dealer played by Joe Don Baker, a massive drug deal, and the Russian war in Afghanistan. It gets a little confusing, but then again I suck at following the plot of spy movies. But I suppose if I could follow "Octopussy" this one isn't that troublesome. The important thing is that it's exciting, and you kind of just roll with whatever is happening whether you understand it or not.

What part of "Boom" do you need spelled out for you?

I'll come right out and say that I really, really dig Timothy Dalton as James Bond. He encapsulates the smooth, almost playful smugness of Connery while giving what is arguably the most intense version of the character we've seen. You could argue that Daniel Craig is more intimidating physically, and I'd place Craig really close to Dalton in terms of intensity, but there's just something in Dalton's eyes that is ice cold. It's clear that this man is a killer, and when he gets that look you know some punk is about to eat a face-full of lead. He may not be as charming as Connery, Brosnan or even Lazenby, but I fully believe him when he's kicking someone's ass. After seven movies of not having that, it's a very welcome sight.

He put on his "For Serious" eyebrows today.

That intensity is enhanced by the action, which hits hard, is consistently paced, and is taking itself just seriously enough to not be goofy despite the absurdity. Dalton carries himself very well as he did most of his own stunts, and there are a number of set pieces that are very memorable, including a thrilling opening scene which starts with a parachute jump and ends with Bond hanging on the roof of a truck as it goes off a cliff, the return of Bond's Aston Martin as it takes place in a high speed pursuit involving rockets and a frozen lake, and a climax that is one of the most insane sequences I've ever seen in a Bond film which features 007 fighting a guy while they're both hanging off a cargo net trailing from the tail of a plane. It's a wild flick.

I would also like to note the fact that I actually did laugh out loud at this film, partly because I was having fun, and also because the parts that were funny were actually funny. Like Connery and Brosnan, Dalton can really deliver a funny line if it's written correctly, and thankfully "The Living Daylights" doesn't insult us by spelling out when we're supposed to laugh, giving the jokes an opportunity to actually work. About the goofiest thing in the movie is Joe Don Baker, and he's playing it pretty straight for a crazy person who stages mock battles with toy soldiers, strobe lights and prerecorded sound effects to enhance the drama of his huge dioramas. It's pretty incredible that that character can exist while being played by the same guy who played Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III and Mitchell and it's still not as silly as "Moonraker."

Think you can take him? Go ahead on.

Maryam d'Abo makes for a better Bond girl than we're used to, as she's not horribly incompetent nor irritating. She may be slightly easily duped, but some of that can be forgiven since she's not a spy or anything - she's a cellist. It's not like Agent XXX or Goodnight, two supposed spies who couldn't find their way out of a car wash while strapped to the moving conveyer belt. I'm not going to split hairs over a professional musician being played for a sap by member of the KGB. At least she flies a plane for a little bit with seemingly no training without managing to crash it. I've seen far more useless Bond girls.

All of this adds up to what I found to be a really good time. This is the kind of Bond movie I like: Hard hitting, a little dark, and taking itself seriously while throwing in enough over-the-top stunts and dry wit so as to get a chuckle out of me once in a while. The fact that it also came on the heels of one of the weakest films in the series makes how good "The Living Daylights" is that much more impressive. The pair of Dalton outings are fascinating to me in that they really seem to set the blueprint for what is to come, particularly for the Pierce Brosnan era. From that perspective it's a very important film in the franchise, because they were going to be copying the formula for some time afterwards. And going a couple years ahead, I think that what's to come is potentially one of the best films in the whole series.

Welcome back, 007. I missed you, bro.

Dude, this trailer rocks. That's how you get stuff done, son.

THE BOTTOM LINE - "The Living Daylights" is an awesome movie. If you like your Bond more on the serious side, both this and Timothy Dalton are for you. It's action packed, the acting is fantastic, Dalton is a great James Bond, and it's got John Rhys-Davis and Joe Don Baker. What's not to like?

JAMES BOND

WILL RETURN IN

LICENSE TO KILL