Review of Licence to Kill (1989) by Raima R — 18 May 2009

In my opinion this is by far the most underrated Bond film and my favourite since "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". It's also the most consistently dark Bond film...maybe in the entire series (although Quantum of Solace is pretty bleak). The jokey days of Roger Moore are a distant memory in "Licence to Kill" which takes Bond away from his usual formulaic "save the world" missions and puts him on a path of bloody vengeance (and it does get really bloody for a Bond film).

Dalton never got a fair shot at Bond, but I liked that he actually added depth to the role. Sure he was a little awkward with his leading ladies and his one-liners were never punchy enough, but he's the first Bond who was ever truly believable as a spy trained to kill. And I've always found Rober Davi as Sanchez to be one of the most menacing villains.

But, what makes this one even more fun is that Q is upgraded from a cameo to a supporting role. Working against M, Q visits Bond to supply him with some gadgets and ends up sticking around for the remainder of the film (actually helping out on missions). Desmond Llewelyn has never been better, and it's nice to see him in the field.

On top of that the action sequences and stunts are top notch. The final chase scene with the oil tankers, trucks, and airplane racing down mountain roads is one of the best action scenes in the whole series - it's just one awesome stunt after another for about 8 minutes.

Hopefully with so much attention placed on the new, darker Bond films with Daniel Craig, audiences will begin to reassess "Licence to Kill".