World Weary and Grittier Bond
LICENCE TO KILL is an interesting and progressive follow-up to Timothy Dalton's version of a world weary James Bond in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS.
Dalton's Bond certainly possesses the drive that Connery gives Bond and adds more realism and conviction in his no-nonsense performance. Dalton posses the intensity and a certain presence that Connery often played with his tongue in cheek, but Dalton adds an enigmatic quality of the lonely world-weary blunt instrument to Bond. At times one can detect a melancholic aura tinged with disgust for his line of work. These were qualities that Dalton openly wanted to put into his performance. This film integrates the thinking man's hero and the man of action into Dalton's Bond.
James Bond resigns in this film, putting his current assignment aside, and sets out on a relentless crusade of revenge for the mutilation of his friend, Felix Leiter, and the death of Leiter's wife. Why should Bond loose his objectivity and his...
Bond with bite
Love Timothy Dalton as the darker, edgier bond. Huge departure from his immediate predecessor (Roger Moore). Some of the stunts were......ahem......a little out there, typical bond. However, Dalton seemed to require the use of a stunt double less than most. Excellent villain and leading ladies were stunning.
The 70's Cop Show of Bond Films
I very much like Timothy Dalton as James Bond; he harkens back to a harder Bond, like Sean Connery's version, and The Living Daylights was a very good film. License to Kill, however, feels like a '70's cop show. The story seems contrived. Case in point: Felix almost ditches his own wedding for a drug bust which didn't require his presence. And in general, it seems low budget; for instance, the hundred dollar bills in Bond's suitcase are clearly not real, even on a small screen without HD. Overall, the story isn't terrible, but I expect more from a Bond film. I would have liked to have seen more Bond films made with Dalton, but I am pleased to see that Daniel Craig now brings the hardest skinned Bond of all. I look forward to many new Bond films with him in the lead.
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