Review of Licence to Kill (1989) by Diego C — 16 Jul 2008

A frustrating film with definite plusses and minuses. On the positive side, the plot is one of the most original of the series and actually dares to make Bond a genuinely anti-establishment figure after decades of loyal service to Her Majesty's government.

Dalton rises to the challenges of the renegade Bond storyline and delivers a tremendous performance. Carey Lowell is delicious and sophisticated as first-string Bond girl Pam Bouvier (before she became one of the many "Waterston girls" on Law and Order), and Desmond Llewelyn gets to turn in his best and lengthiest performance as the loveably irascible Q.

Even a young Benicio Del Toro is on hand for some scene-stealing work as a henchman. There are also great action set pieces here, including the spectacular truck chase that ends the movie. On the other hand, most of the supporting performances are pretty wretched, including Robert Davi's tepid turn as Sanchez and Talisa Soto's embarrassing work as his girlfriend.

As I said when discussing Live and Let Die, there's something less interesting about watching Bond take on drug dealers rather than saving the world. Bond can save the world without breaking a sweat, but do we really believe he can make a dent in the war on drugs? This film also slips into a Scarface/Miami Vice vibe at times that isn't exactly terrible but is most definitely un-Bondian.

And the pacing is not quite as good as it was in The Living Daylights, which makes certain plot holes less easy to forgive. In short, it's a film worth seeing but not the movie it could have been.