I resigned myself years ago to the fact that I will never win the argument on who is the best James Bond. If “Licence to Kill” doesn’t prove to a detractor that Timothy Dalton had everything writer Ian Fleming envisioned and what the character needed, there’s no helping them.
Dalton’s second, and sadly last Bond film is easily one of the best Bond films of all time. Despite the public’s unfounded reservations about his portrayal in his previous film, the excellent “The Living Daylights,” Dalton didn’t play it safe in his second adventure. He didn’t backpedal and didn’t waver in his convictions toward the character. He and director John Glen opted to go for broke and place James Bond in a scenario in which he leaves the employ of the British government to seek revenge on a drug dealer that maimed his best friend and murdered his best friend’s wife.
After finding his longtime friend, Felix, half-eaten by sharks and Felix’s wife brutally raped and murdered, Bond is determined to kill the Columbian drug cartel boss, Sanchez, played expertly by the sinister Robert Davi, who gives viewers the best Bond villain ever, period. When M shows up and demands he return to London and start a new assignment, Bond resigns and evades capture by British agents to hunt Sanchez down. In a brilliant move, he infiltrates the organization with a little help from Q and the beautiful Carey Lowell. Once there, he befriends Sanchez and works to corrupt the whole cartel from within.
Here for the first time we see Bond using every primal skill he’s learned as a secret agent to exact a personal vendetta against a truly dangerous man. Here also for the first and only time we see Q in a substantial supporting role. Finally, this is the first film where Bond actually bleeds.
Dalton never messed around. He gave audiences a gritty, unapologetic 007 who is as good at playing mind games as killing mercilessly. “Licence to Kill” is a remake of “Othello” and Bond is the Iago destroying the lives of his enemies even as he pats them on the back. He’s seen what every one of his enemies have done and now he’s using their own tactics against them. On top of that, he actually does some real spying in this story, pretending to be someone else and convincing everyone around him in the lion’s den of his deception.
“Licence to Kill” is a very smart movie with smart writing and shrewd performances. Its only weaknesses lie in a ham-handed cameo by Wayne Newton toward the end of the movie and a few over-the-top truck stunts, but what’s Bond without some stunts, right?
Starring Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell & Robert Davi Directed by John Glen United Artists - 1989 GRADE: A
Although panned upon its initial release, I believe “Licence to Kill” as well as Dalton’s other Bond film, “The Living Daylights,” will age well as time goes on, much better than many of the pre-Dalton flicks. “Licence to Kill” in particular will continue to attract a broader audience in the years to come because it marks the one time Bond walks away from MI6 to win at his own game no matter what the cost. We can thank Dalton in large part for taking Bond’s gloves off for two films, no matter how narrowly they were received at the time by audiences.
