Review of Licence to Kill (1989) by John P — 18 Nov 2008

Timothy Dalton was a fine Bond and gave a credible turn in the role. Trying to give the franchise a more serious edge following the high-camp of Roger Moore was not an easy task and with no obvious supervillain to battle, Licence To Kill was a more sober tale, perfectly suited to the equally sober talents of Dalton.

This was a great Bond film, only to be superceded by the cheeseball era of Brosnan in an effort to return to the more bankable image of big tits, fast cars and supervillians. It took 17 years from the release of Licence To Kill to return Bond back to the serious, no-nonsense of Daniel Craig and let's hope that the era of cheeseballs playing James Bond is well and truly over.