Licence to Kill Movie Review
Q-Branch_2012
Posts: 80MI6 Agent
I have had mixed feelings on this movie for many years. Although I loved Timothy Dalton as Bond, I never really enjoyed this movie, however over the years I must say, it has grown on me quite alot.
The movie start off in fine style with a solid pre-title sequence (even if it is completely unbelievable). On route to Felix Lieghters wedding, and the DEA show up asking for Felixs' assistance in obtaining drug lord Franz Sanchez, so in true Bond style Bond tags along with Felix as 'an observer'. So the wedding is on hold and Bond and Felix grab the bad guy by hooking his plne up to a helicopter, before parachuting to the wedding. It has to be seen to be believed, but it is fun to watch. This is followed by a brilliant Bond title song by Gladys Knight. I used to hate this theme for some reason, but now I think it is amongst the best. So all in all a pretty decent start to the movie.
Shortly after Felixs' wedding, Franz Sanchez escapes from a prison van, with the help of a corrupt DEA agent and goes straight after Felix. He is fed to the sharks, in some of the most violent scenes in any Bond movie, and his wife Della, is raped and killed. This sets Bond out on a mission of revenge. He is asked by the Americans to leave, and MI6 tell Bond to come back, but when he refuses they revoke his Licence to Kill, and Bond turns into a rogue agent. Bond will stop at nothing to take don Sanchez and get revenge for what he did to his best friend. Bond still has some allies in MI6 and is aided by Q, Moneypenny, as well as ex-CIA agent Pam Bouvier.
To me this movie is alot more gritty, than previous Bonds, and definately shows the darker and more serious side to the Bond character. The violence is definately more realistic and there is definately more of it, so much so that 36 seconds needed to be cut when it was originally released. It explores his friendship with Felix, and also makes a rare reference to Bonds previous marraige. Even though Bond is rogue from MI6, it still carries some outrageous gadgets including 'Dentonite' explosive tooth-paste.
Timothy Dalton is fantastic as Bond, he puts in another flawless effort here. There is definately less humor that his previous outing, and Dalton definately plays the role with a serious edge, with many dark undertones to the character. He gets time to shine and show his acting skills when he goes rogue, transforming form the cold and calculated spy hell-bent on revenge, to laughing with Sanchez as his friend an ally. This definately shows Daltons ability as an actor and he does a great job in the Bond role.
Robert Davi is brutal in the role of Franz Sanchez. He seems evil in this movie, and very believable as the character. He is perfectly cast in this very grim and violent Bond movie. I think not many people could have pulled this off but he does it with style. In my opinion he is one of the most evil villians in the history of Bond, and maybew even one of the best.
The supporting cast are a bit of a let down. Q is his usual self which is good to see, and David Hedison is good as Felix. Pam Bouvier is annoyingly bad, played by Carey Lowell, and maybe even one of the worst Bond girls ever, Frank Macrae as Sharkey, always seems to have a worried expression on his face, and Anthony Zerbe as Milton Krest does not seem to bothered about the movie.
I liked the direction the movie was going in, which is a more edgier and realistic approach, with less humor and more violence. It is unfortunate that this was to be Timothy Daltons final attempt at the role as he did a fantastic job and definately should have had more movies as the title character. Unfortunately he didn't get it, but it is clear he left with his head held high.
I think this Bond could be enjoyed by most people it is a great spy movie in general, and a tale of revenge. The only people who may not like this is anyone who doesn't really like violence as this one is very violent, not like the Bond of the 1970's. But none the less a great movie.
The movie start off in fine style with a solid pre-title sequence (even if it is completely unbelievable). On route to Felix Lieghters wedding, and the DEA show up asking for Felixs' assistance in obtaining drug lord Franz Sanchez, so in true Bond style Bond tags along with Felix as 'an observer'. So the wedding is on hold and Bond and Felix grab the bad guy by hooking his plne up to a helicopter, before parachuting to the wedding. It has to be seen to be believed, but it is fun to watch. This is followed by a brilliant Bond title song by Gladys Knight. I used to hate this theme for some reason, but now I think it is amongst the best. So all in all a pretty decent start to the movie.
Shortly after Felixs' wedding, Franz Sanchez escapes from a prison van, with the help of a corrupt DEA agent and goes straight after Felix. He is fed to the sharks, in some of the most violent scenes in any Bond movie, and his wife Della, is raped and killed. This sets Bond out on a mission of revenge. He is asked by the Americans to leave, and MI6 tell Bond to come back, but when he refuses they revoke his Licence to Kill, and Bond turns into a rogue agent. Bond will stop at nothing to take don Sanchez and get revenge for what he did to his best friend. Bond still has some allies in MI6 and is aided by Q, Moneypenny, as well as ex-CIA agent Pam Bouvier.
To me this movie is alot more gritty, than previous Bonds, and definately shows the darker and more serious side to the Bond character. The violence is definately more realistic and there is definately more of it, so much so that 36 seconds needed to be cut when it was originally released. It explores his friendship with Felix, and also makes a rare reference to Bonds previous marraige. Even though Bond is rogue from MI6, it still carries some outrageous gadgets including 'Dentonite' explosive tooth-paste.
Timothy Dalton is fantastic as Bond, he puts in another flawless effort here. There is definately less humor that his previous outing, and Dalton definately plays the role with a serious edge, with many dark undertones to the character. He gets time to shine and show his acting skills when he goes rogue, transforming form the cold and calculated spy hell-bent on revenge, to laughing with Sanchez as his friend an ally. This definately shows Daltons ability as an actor and he does a great job in the Bond role.
Robert Davi is brutal in the role of Franz Sanchez. He seems evil in this movie, and very believable as the character. He is perfectly cast in this very grim and violent Bond movie. I think not many people could have pulled this off but he does it with style. In my opinion he is one of the most evil villians in the history of Bond, and maybew even one of the best.
The supporting cast are a bit of a let down. Q is his usual self which is good to see, and David Hedison is good as Felix. Pam Bouvier is annoyingly bad, played by Carey Lowell, and maybe even one of the worst Bond girls ever, Frank Macrae as Sharkey, always seems to have a worried expression on his face, and Anthony Zerbe as Milton Krest does not seem to bothered about the movie.
I liked the direction the movie was going in, which is a more edgier and realistic approach, with less humor and more violence. It is unfortunate that this was to be Timothy Daltons final attempt at the role as he did a fantastic job and definately should have had more movies as the title character. Unfortunately he didn't get it, but it is clear he left with his head held high.
I think this Bond could be enjoyed by most people it is a great spy movie in general, and a tale of revenge. The only people who may not like this is anyone who doesn't really like violence as this one is very violent, not like the Bond of the 1970's. But none the less a great movie.
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Comments
I can't agree on your opinion about Pam Bouvier, she's the best part in the movie imo.
If Roger Moore did the Kenworth wheelie, he would have gotten crucified like (well deserved) for the Tarzan yell.
A smiling Bond when he sees Felix again is inappropriate imo if you keep in mind that Della has been killed and Felix lost almost all body parts. Moore and Brosnan would have handled this so much better (just look at the PTS in FYEO).
Besides this, the Florida atmosphere is captured very well and I like that a lot.
The part with the Hong Kong people is confusing and totally unnecessary imo - they'd better left that out on the cutting room floor.
Since I have seen the movie in the cinema, I strongly disliked his hair when he's in the Casino, the entire scene does not ooze glamor like in previous movies (FYEO and OHMSS come to mind).
Kamen's soundtrack did not age well imo, it tends to get overly annoying in parts and the small budget is pretty obvious thru most parts of the movie.
I have no problem mit the violence in the movie - however I find the shark stuff pretty unnecessary (I know that many people may call it Flemingesque) - in my opinion the movie was not successful because Dalton was simply not accepted by the wider audience - particularly in the USA.
I don't get much of the cozy "James Bond movie" feeling which also lacks for me in Skyfall.
Dalton - the weak and weepy Bond!
I also disagree. Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier is one of the main highlights of Licence To Kill. She's attractive, intelligent, feisty, and comes to Bond's aid on numerous occasions. Without her Bond could not have got his revenge on Franz Sanchez.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
I suppose there are some that will argue that this movie strays too far from the Bond forumla but this has never been a problem for me. The plot is strong enough to counter the fact that he isn't working for MI6. In fact I would say the plot is far more epionage than alot of the movies that had gone before.
Sure, he's pissed Leiter got mauled by the actions of Sanchez, and is even more pissed that even though Sanchez was behind it, he can't be touched, but I only see that being part of the motivation, and the real drive being the fact that his personal marriage situation has been repeated by Leiter not only being attacked, but having his wife killed on his wedding day.
The scene with the garter and the later conversation with M when he brings Della up serve as a bit of confirmation for this. Dalton's downbeat reaction to catching the garter, and the way he quickly gets out of there after it's been brought to the forefront definitely show that the pain is still there, and Bond is still trying to compartmentalize it. But when he stares, shocked, over Della's corpse, he can't hide from it anymore, and he's more desperate to kill Sanchez than seemingly any other villain we've seen up to that point.
Dalton shines in a Bond that's written more for his take. I still think he's the best actor the franchise ever got and remains unfairly maligned by the viewing public. He looks the part, he acts the part, and creates an agent that you can actually fear. He's fantastic.
One of my favorite aspects is getting to see the forgotten M, Robert Brown, really get a chance to shine here. He may get less screen time than he has in the prior films, but it's made up for in the crackling scene between himself and Dalton at Hemingway house. It's a shock to the system to see the fatherlike M, who in the past seems to see Bond as almost a wayward son, order the MI-6 agents not to kill Bond when he runs away because there's "Too many people."
I too think Carey Lowell's Pam Bovier is a great Bond girl, but I would agree with the reviewer in the sense that I don't like the later aspects where she behaves like a jealous schoolgirl when Bond goes off with Lupe in the casino to meet Sanchez, and runs away crying when she sees him kissing Lupe at the end. Though her locking him out of the bedroom after and forcing Bond to bunk with Q is quite funny. The performance if the bits is fine, the script lets Lowell down, not the other way around.
Talisa Soto is lovely to look at, but her inexperience shows throughout the film. Still, she does alright, and it doesn't impact the picture.
Davi is probably one of the best villains of the franchise. He's ruthless, but I love the fact he takes care of his associates. It makes sense when Braun and Perez follow Bond in a truck that's on fire to kill him because we see Sanchez is a person worth doing that for. He respects his people, and isn't the type to throw them into a swimming pool with a shark or feed them to piranha for the slightest mistake. And a small core group of henchmen is much more believable than 100s of guys willing to kill themselves for the cause. Davi's acting is brilliant, and it's great to see him go from seemingly having everything at hand to becoming more and more desperate to kill this Ex-Government agent that will not leave him alone and keeps destroying everything he has.
And of course, Desmond Llewellyn rocks as Q, and it's refreshing to see him actually get to do more than simply hand Bond his gadgets and squawk at him for destroying prior equipment. He's having fun in this new role, and it's hilarious to see him go from crestfallen when Bond orders him away to exhilarated when Bond changes his mind and gives him something else to do.
It plays like a Bond film to me. The Best, IMO.
I have to agree! Sanchez is a fantastic villain, very human and believable but also with a larger than life sense of immortality. I love the scenes when he is captured and easily and casually bribes his way out with a smile on his face. At this point it really hits home that he is a really dangerous man who is going to take a lot of stopping. I also like his irrational bursts of anger and lack of remorse. Certainly a very highly rated villain in my books! -{
I must disagree with most of this! Pam Bouvier is sensational! We hear all the time which bond girls are "more than just a pretty face" and to me none of them accomplish this like the character of Pam. She's just a truly exciting character and really just oozes beauty, intelligence and excitement. Sharkey is one of my favourite allies. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy who has the underdogs courage - the kind of man who obviously really looks up to Bond and actually wants to help him. And I'm not sure how you've came to the conclusion that Anthony Zerbe doesn't seem bothered about the movie. There's a thread kicking around somewhere about the character of Krest and how we can really feel sorry for him. The portrayal by Zerbe is almost spot on - Krest is a helpless alcoholic who really seems caught up in the wrong business but is trying to make the most of it. Krest makes many mistakes throughout the film and Zerbe captures his sense of fear, worthlessness and nastiness perfectly. I really do think the supporting cast in this film is great and one of the best. Even Talisa Soto is good to me!
Umm... can't think of anything....
Oh, right, the Felix phone call at the end, no one told Hedison the situation when they filmed it.
#1.TLD/LTK 2.TND 3.GF 4.GE 5.DN 6.FYEO 7.FRWL 8.TMWTGG 9.TWINE 10.YOLT/QOS
Okay, I know this is probably just fannish wishful thinking. The reason I doubt it would ever happen is because the Bond producers prefer to look forwards rather than backwards, leaving alone the films of the past to be what they were. Also, a Daily Mail article along the lines of "X-rated Bond" might not be helpful to the franchise (although, with the phenomenal success of 'Skyfall' under their belts, the Bond producers could well afford to weather a little controversy between movies.)