Licence to Kill
Dir: John Glen
1989
****
Licence to Kill is the sixteenth Bond film and the first not to be named after one of Ian Flemming's stories, although elements of the plot can be found in The Hildebrand Rarity that was part of Flemming's eighth Bond book, a collection of short stories that included; Risico, Quantum of Solace, For Your Eyes Only and From A View To A Kill. The Hildebrand Rarity features the character of Milton Crest and features his Wavekrest but they look for a rare fish rather than Sharks. The film is a murder mystery, more Agatha Christie than 007, and is also eerily similar to the mysterious death of Robert Maxwell that would occur two years after the film's release. Licence to Kill is Timothy Dalton's second and final Bond film. Dalton is still an underrated James Bond in my opinion. I was sad that he only did two films in the franchise, both his films represent a new and important direction in terms of the franchise's survival and both are very solid films. Licence to Kill made some bold moves. Bond went rouge, told M to shove off and went on a revenge mission that was such a shift from the usual formula that it really widened 007's horizons and other Bond films (and their writers/directors) have a lot to thank it for. It manages to take Bond to a much more serious level but retains the feel of the older films too. It's got sharks, an exploding head, a Latino Blofeld, Q - in his biggest role to date and explosive toothpaste, it's still very much a traditional Bond and gives the fans what they want. Sadly, it also represents the last film that featured Robert Brown as M, the last Bond film the great screen writer Richard Maibaum worked on, the last title sequence from the legendary Maurice Binder and it was the last Bond that the great Albert R. Broccoli would produce. It was also John Glen's fifth and final outing as Bond director and is possibly his best. I had such a crush on Carey Lowell in this film, she was an overlooked Bond Girl in my opinion who had great charisma and lots of charm. The whole cast is good, it was great to see David Hedison return as Felix Leiter (first seen in the brilliant Live and Let Die), Robert Davi is one of the coolest Bond Villains ever, and Anthony Zerbe and a young Benicio Del Toro play great henchmen without their characters having to have any quirks, gimmicks or oddities - although both are bumped off in great Bond-style methods. Licence to Kill represents the end of an era (again) in the Bond franchise and the start of a new beginning and with the highest rating of the series so far. It also packs a punch, seeing it reach a higher rating than any Bond film before or since (so far). For me though, the best part of Licence to Kill is the fact that the great Q (Desmond Llewelyn) finally gets a chance to do some real field work.