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This time round the pre-credit sequence serves up a decent plane-catching stunt and serves as a very effective set up to the main story. Then, after the last two films had electro 80's pop as their theme tune, we're back into MOR ballads, this time by Gladys Knight.

The set-up is as far removed from the usual Bond film as you can get. After Bond helps Felix Leiter (David Hedison, the only actor to play Felix twice) capture drugs lord Francisco Sanchez (Robert Davi) he prepares to jet off back to London and his work. Word reaches him however that Sanchez's capture didn't last long. With the help of a crooked DEA agent he's escaped, and worse still he knows that Leiter was the brains behind his capture. Sanchez has taken his revenge in the most brutal fashion: he has Felix's wife raped and killed and cripples Felix by feeding him to his pet shark.

M arrives to remind Bond of his duty and instructs him to return to his job and leave Felix's justice up to the Americans. Fearing that the Americans will be bought off and burning with revenge, Bond resigns from his post and sets off on a personal mssion to bring down Sanchez and his drugs empire from within, 'Yojimbo' style. Along for the ride he takes CIA chopper pilot and Sanchez informant Pam Bouvier (Cary Lowell).

It's clear to anyone with just a passing Bond knowledge then, that this isn't your usual Bond fare. There's no plan for global domination, no wisecracking, no comedy henchmen. In truth it's a simple minded, blood thirsty vendetta not a million miles away from a Charles Bronson flick. And that's where the rub lies for Bond fans: it's a Bond film in name only. It lacks the class and intelligence and style that the best of Bonds have (but then again, so does 'Moonraker'). Bond instead has brawls in a bar, barely wears his tuxedo and tells villains to 'piss off'. This is not one for Roger Moore fans.

But within this complaint lies a further paradox. It seems that 'Licence To Kill' could never win anyway. There's always two complaints about Bond films: they're all the same and they're too silly. So what happens when a Bond film goes for bloody realism and tries something different? There's complaints that it's not funny enough and it's too different. Sigh...

But just because it may not be a particularly good Bond film, doesn't mean it's not a good film anyway. Indeed, 'Licence To Kill' has a lot to recommend it and is still hugely enjoyable. The action sequences are some of the best in the series including some water-skiing to plane-hijacking tomfoolery, to a thundering climax with Bond attempting to take on a group of heavy duty gas trucks. Glen, like the previous 'The Living Daylights' shows he really has a sense of what makes a great Bond (although it does sag in the middle) and gets a superb sense of location across, the dry and dusty Isthmus City here.

Dalton gives possibly the most commited performance that anyone has ever given to Bond. He looks great in the part and belies Bond's natural charm with a simmering and barely contained rage against Sanchez. He invests the film with an emotional charge that raises it above its simplistic revenge theme. He isn't just showing off in the role, he's really pissed off here. Those who complain he's too humourless in the role should consider his best friend has just been half eaten by a shark. Imagine how Roger Moore would, or wouldn't, have approached the role. Shudder...

Dalton makes Bond the most flawed and human he's ever been and he's at his best in his scenes with Davi. On the surface, he's ingratiating and charming as he weasles his way into his organisation, but just hinting at a) the anger that he wants to vent at Sanchez and b) the glee that he's going to have when Sanchez gets his come-uppance.

Davi is also great as Sanchez. There's those who complain that Sanchez is too small a villain for a Bond film, but that's to ignore the point. By making Sanchez a relatively 'small' villain of a drug-dealer (although he does own an entire city) the film is much more human and realistic. We can believe in a scary Sanchez much more than we could a fantastical Drax or a Stromberg. And Davi sells the part totally. When he orders a man's heart to be cut out, we know it'll be done. Small scale or not, he's a terrific foe for Bond. The henchmen here however are largely faceless thugs, although it's entertaining to watch a young Benicio Del Toro acting threatening ("Don't worry - we gave her a nice honey-MOOOOON!"

There's also an interesting subtext between Sanchez and Del Toro's henchman, Dario. There are looks and touches between them that suggest there's more than friendship there. Small scale perhaps, but Sanchez is one of the best written and interesting Bond villains.

Lowell continues the tradition of Dalton's Bond having strong females to spar off against as she's an extremely resourceful agent herself, and Hedison gives the film a heart as the crippled Leiter. As you'd expect there's not much room for the regulars who are side-lined more than ever. It was Brown's last performance as M, but you always got the feeling that he outright disliked Bond and never even respected him, unlike Bernard Lee's M who you could see unwinding over a drink with Bond. It was also Caroline Bliss' last outing as Miss Moneypenny although she never convinced in the part anyway. Strangely enough, despite Bond being a renegade, it's Q's best story as he sets off to help Bond anyway. Llewelyn perhaps being the best consistent performer throughout Bond's history.

The debate over 'Licence To Kill' will go on and on. In many ways it's barely a Bond film, and with some justification it could be argued that it nearly killed the series. But despite the oddly brutal tone and savage portrayal of Bond, there's some terrific action and superb acting going on. It may be the darkest and least Bond-esque film, but it's also the one to take the most risks since 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' and one of the most interesting ones to watch. Serious re-evaluation required.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=911&reviewer=293
originally posted: 08/17/04 02:46:59
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