Review of Licence to Kill (1989) by Michael S — 21 Feb 2009

Timothy Dalton's second and final turn as 007 was neither a box office nor critical success at the time of its release in 1989, but it would forshadow the harder-edged, more serious James Bond movies of Daniel Craig.

Dalton's edgier Bond is compelling (if humorless) and Robert Davi is a convincing villian with ambitions less grandiose than those bent on world domination. Overall, it's a mixed bag, with harder edged characters, a more realistic plot and heroine, but still suffering from the jokiness of the Roger Moore era - i.

E. the semi set piece and Wayne Newton. Points to longtime screenwriters Michael Wilson and Richard Maibaum (his final script for the series) for including plot elements of Fleming's short story The Hildebrandt Rarity and an interpretation of Felix Leiter's grisly fate in the novel Live and Let Die.

David Hedison was the first (and last) actor to portray Felix Leiter twice (after his debut in the film version of Live and Let Die) until Bernie Casey took the role in the Craig era. After the summer of 1989, it looked as if 007 might be retired, with a long six year gap between this film and Pierce Brosnan's debut in Goldeneye.