Licence to Kill

A franchise as expansive as James Bond is going to face some hurdles as it continues on, and the 1989 film, Licence to Kill, faced an issue that is bizarre when you factor in where the series has gone in more recent years. The movie, though financially successful and reviewed relatively favorably, was met with criticism due to housing a much darker tone that had been placed onto the Bond brand, which the 1981 film, For Your Eyes Only, also faced criticism for.  It’s ironic to think that this was the same brand that was also being criticism for being overly campy in the years prior, but regardless, this harsher direction, in particularly the two films starring Timothy Dalton as the titular character, gave people a different perspective on this brand, which despite what many believed at the time, did help this character out in the long run. After helping to capture drug lord, Franz Sanchez (played by Robert Davi), James Bond (played by Timothy Dalton) manages to get his CIA agent friend, Felix Leiter (played by David Hedison) to his wedding on time. Although it seems like a picturesque place to end things on, Sanchez manages to bribe his way to freedom, tracks down Leiter’s location, and murders his wife while leaving him for near dead. Bond, enraged by the attack on his friends, decides to go against his own agency and bring Sanchez to justice himself. This leads to him leaving the country with pilot and DEA informant, Pam Bouvier (played by Carey Lowell) and upon arriving in the Republic of Isthmus, Bond slips his way into the good graces of Sanchez (who is unaware that he was the one that helped take him down originally) and tries at every possible chance to exact his revenge, putting others in the crossfire, including those that are working with him and Sanchez’s abused girlfriend, Lupe (played by Talisa Soto). Licence to Kill may not be the flashiest or most effectively constructed Bond film with many coming after being able to handle the harsher and bleaker aspect in a more mainstream-pleasing manner, but with a more personal story line, upped drama, impressive action sequences and a memorable portrayal of Bond himself, it still results in a pretty great flick.

This film doesn’t owe its story to any of the Ian Fleming novels, with instead aspects being taken from fellow Bond story, Live and Let Die, the short story “The Hildebrand Rarity”, and even the Akira Kurosawa 1961 samurai film, Yojimbo. This comes from a dedicated focus by the creatives on this film to keep a gritter and realistic vibe for this film, and that can be felt with how much this story isn’t run by political espionage or social/global issues, but rather one of a personal vendetta that spurred from the murder of close companions. Since Bond has always usually existed as a fantasy and one that has taken liberties with the profession its showcasing as well as just general etiquette among other people (Bond can be a bit of an oppressive misogynist in the books), this idea of trying to ground the story and characters into a less rose-tinted glass energy may have rubbed people the wrong way at the time. However, with context and knowing how much of Bond has been dissected, analysed, and altered in modern day, this more aggressive tone feels very welcoming and brings a much-needed new feeling to the genre and to the franchise that makes things very engaging. The director for this movie, John Glen, was also responsible for directing the five Bond films that were released from 1981 to 1989 (with Licence to Kill being his last film), giving him time to get adjusted into the franchise and determine what things to keep the same, and which things to shake up, which is an element shared with the film’s screenwriters, Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum, who have also been associated with several Bond films from the past. Overall, it’s a decently handled job that keeps the vibe of a Bond project while still feeling different enough to be its own thing, but the film faces problems as it keeps going. The first act is very well handled; with great pacing, memorable scenes, dialogue that is flowing and provides clear information about the layout and direction of the movie and gives the film and the audience a solid motivation for the lead to follow, but things start to get messy once they leave the country and get into the details surrounding the villains. Its ironically the part that feels more traditional Bond-like that isn’t as engaging, as the villain’s motivation is both too basic to be interesting but is also too complicated in its explanation to the point that it’s hard to follow.  The scenes start to have less engaging flow, the characters start to lose some of their fun edge, and outside of the climax (which brightens things up again and gets that fun factor back), it doesn’t feel incredibly satisfactory by the end, despite building up a personal story that should have a personally engaging conclusion.

The characters of a Bond film are pretty cookie-cutter by nature and will need solid performers to bring some new life into them. This wasn’t around the period of trying to re-imagine Bond or these characters yet, so the levels in which they could expand upon things had to come from the writing, the narrative and the actor’s portrayal, and in that regard, some pull it off. A lot of attention was put on Timothy Dalton’s portrayal of Bond, mainly that it faced some criticism for playing into a darker energy that Dalton himself influenced through his performance. With that in mind, this angle of Bond is not only one that has been explored much more frequently nowadays, but one that feels very much in line with how this character should realistically come across. While Bond has usually been portrayed as suave, very capable and a heavy womanizer to a fault (again, some pretty bad stuff in those earlier books), a character with his pedigree, stature and confidence in his abilities, would carry this cold, almost brutally frightening element about himself, and it would need to be addressed if you want the character to feel authentic in an evolving world. Dalton nails that element perfectly, being able to capture the typical charismatic, one-line spewing element of the role, but really bringing this level of intimidation and demeanor of a true steely-eyed killer to the figure, adding a whole new layer to a familiar character and allowing for a brand-new sense of intrigue when watching him in scenes. While it doesn’t go too far beyond the base level in terms of complexity, it’s a great element to add to Bond that really brings a new flavor to the role and Dalton easily defines himself apart from other portrayals because of this.  Robert Davi as the villain is also pretty good, containing a similar vibe to Bond in having the right amount of charisma and fear-factor, and the all-to-familiar repartee between hero and villain is handled nicely due to both actors feeling kind of similar in nature. Again, the motivation and plans are a little muddled and generic, but the portrayal is strong enough to make it work. While some returning faces like Desmond Llewelyn as Q and even surprise faces like Benicio del Toro and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa are nice, the rest of the characters aren’t always the most interesting or even acted very well. Carey Lowell does do some fun stuff in the action scenes, but her acting isn’t very strong and her relationship with Bond just feels so hollow and forced, especially when it becomes a love triangle with Talisa Soto (who also isn’t very strong). You sadly would expect the female roles in these movies to still be pretty flat during this era, but when it could so easily be fixed by just either writing a romance in a stronger fashion or just nixing it altogether (at least for one of the characters), it’s an element of this franchise that has thankfully gone away.

The action for this movie is very entertaining and balances that right amount of grounded to feel suspenseful while also having that nice theatrical flair and campiness to remind its audience what universe it’s in (fighting with a sword fish monument and watching a truck doing essentially a ‘’handstand’’ while driving is pretty great). Its visually impressive because of the practical stunt work being done that really draws people in especially when they’re doing crazy stuff involved with planes and helicopters (continuing the trend of these movies being the blockbusters you went to go see for insane spectacle stunt work), and while some of it in the middle isn’t as engaging as the scenes during the opening and ending (those two acts really are the highlight of the movie and feel the most alive), it’s still never repetitive and always feels fresh and new when it pops up. This was the first Bond film to not be filmed in the UK due to budgetary reasons, which resulted in a lot of the film either being shot in the US or in Mexico. The scenes when they travel to the Republic of Isthmus (which is a fictional banana republic based on Panama) do have a nice vibe to them that brings some new atmosphere to the film, and even Bond as a franchise at this point did want to explore different countries to set their films in (even if it was just to get some action scenes out of popular landmarks), so this Mexican element is a nice touch and thankfully not overtly racist. The opening credit sequence is usually one of the staples for this franchise, but this sequence is pretty by-the-numbers and even the song by Gladys Knight is nice enough, but not overwhelmingly good either.

Licence to Kill may have been a controversial film upon release but has aged quite well over the years. Thankfully the movie didn’t have too many awkward elements that would’ve held it back like others before it, and what were once seen as flaws in a past period are now seen as nice additions to the world of Bond in the present. Despite not being based on a specific book or title, it still manages to provide one that is worthy of being in its library. The plot and motivation are refreshingly intimate, some of the characters are memorable and well performed (mainly Dalton), the action is a lot of fun, and it’s still an entertaining movie that mixes goofy with brutality all these years later. Some elements don’t work like some of the side characters aren’t very good, and the middle of the film isn’t the most engaging, but for a franchise as huge as Bond, a few hiccups are bound to be part of the process and it’s important to keep track of the parts that you really enjoy. As much of a licence to thrill as it does to kill, this 007 escape is worth a watch.