Licence to Kill (1989) Reviews

• Fifth favorite James Bond 007 of mine action classic the best of Timothy Dalton flick

  ivo-cobra82017-11-19

  This is simply the best action film. My fifth favorite James Bond 007 film in my top 10 Bond films. It has action and great performance from Timothy Dalton. The film has great dangerous stunts, real actions that is why I love this film to death! I enjoy this film so much even as a kid growing up I loved this film. I'm a hard-core James Bond fan. I make no apologies for believing that Timothy Dalton is the closest thing we've seen to IAN FLEMING's James Bond. Licence to Kill is one of the most underrated decent action films and I love it so much. This movie is more about Die Hard action junkies like me. This movie has hard core action than espionage. I enjoy this film I still do even over those years. Sadly this is the last Timothy Dalton film and the last 80's film. After this one Timothy Dalton did not want to make another Bond film. The movie is about one of the biggest heroine supplier in the USA in which Felix Letier (David Hedison) and James Bond 007 (Timothy Dalton) captures him, but with the inside man, the drug dealer escapes and kill's Leiter's wife and Felix throws in to the pit with shark in it. Now James Bond goes on a revenge spree and stopping the drug dealer supplying people with heroin. James Bond goes rogue and sets off to unleash vengeance on a drug lord who tortured his best friend, a C.I.A. Agent, and left him for dead and murdered his bride after he helped capture him. Timothy Dalton was excellent as James Bond 007 really too bad he wasn't interested to play the role again. I enjoy his two movies The Living Daylights and this one Licence to Kill. Timothy Dalton is once again serious and on target should have been lightened up a bit. Audiences who spend two or more hours with Bond need to laugh once in a while. Thankfully, Q, awarded the biggest role of his film career (following a tip-off from an anxious Moneypenny), was on hand to provide some crucial comic relief. Carey Lowell showed to be the best Bond girl in years. She was delightful as Pam Bouvier, a resourceful, beautiful CIA pilot and undercover operative who helps Bond at every turn. Her excellent introduction in the Barrelhead Bar is nothing but pure dynamite. She is sexy hot and beautiful irresistible Bond girl. Talisa Soto is in here from Mortal Kombat as Lupe Lamora, Sanchez's girlfriend who has romantic feelings for Bond. She becomes the second Bond girl but Carey Lowell steals the show. Robert Davi proved to be an excellent choice for the role of murderous South American drug lord Franz Sanchez. Surrounded by a private army that keeps potential assassins at arm's length, Sanchez was not an easy target.His main associates include corrupt seaman Anthony Zerbe, a drunken pervert and a sadist Benecio Del Toro. Desmond Llewelyn as Q was excellent this was the only movie that was the longer run Desmond was. He was Bond's ally who supplies Bond with various gadgets and helps him in the field. I love the music scores: Licence to Kill by Gladys Knight, Dirty Love by Tim Feehan and of course my favorite soundtrack If You Asked Me To by Patti LaBelle. This was the last Bond movie that was directed by great director John Glen. This movie has ton's and ton's of action: in the opening scene we see Bond sliding from helicopter to capture the airplane that was really dangerous stunt excellent, executed and performed. Bond being on a bloody machine hanging up and Pam shoots Dario and Bond throws him in to the machine. I love the fights on the trucks that was awesome from the airplane Bond jumps on a truck takes It over and he fights those bad dudes awesome. I love the bar fight which is awesome. Actor Branscombe Richmond was in this movie from (Renagade) in which Bond knocks him out. Bond eludes the divers in the water and he skies with a harpoon on one of the seaplanes, stealing $5 million on the way. Bond goes from Miami Vice to The Punisher and he try's to Kill Sanchez by climbing the wall. Bond gets attacked and knocked out by two ninjas. Bond burns Sanchez with lighter that Felix and Della gave him as a wedding gift. Licence to Kill is the 16th entry in the official James Bond film series. The 1989 sequel (which was the first not to bear the title of an Ian Fleming novel or short story) finds Bond on a personal mission to take down the drug lord responsible for an attack on his CIA friend Felix Leiter and his wife. Licence to Kill co-stars Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Benicio del Toro, Talisa Soto, and Wayne Newton and was the final Bond film directed by John Glen and the final film to star Timothy Dalton as Agent 007. Bond is such a bad-ass in this movie he kicks all the bad guys he is even more dangerous and crazy than Sean Connery. 10/10 it is my fifth favorite James Bond 007 film because it has insanely action, you have great explosions, real actions, no shaky cam. It is Timothy Dalton's second and last best film in his career he ever did.

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• A criminally underrated Bond picture

  gavsalkeld2006-11-22

  Licence To Kill is one of the most underrated Bond movies since On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Slipping easily back into 007's shoes with style after his previous role as Bond, Timothy Dalton embodies the character. With a break away from the comic-book villains and fantastical locations, the filmmakers decide to focus instead on a very adult and contemporary story about drug smuggling and revenge. Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum's story is engaging and exciting, with a steadfast confidence in their leading man. This is a Bond movie that took risks -- it was the first 15-rated Bond film in the UK -- and surely deserves kudos for doing so. Make no mistake; this is not a family Bond picture. Its themes require a more mature perspective than its predecessors, and the violence is certainly stronger than anything that had come before. Unfortunately, these factors seem to be what critics of Licence To Kill call 'faults'. But why is change so bad, I ask? Casino Royale is getting major appreciation from critics for its grittiness and its darker edge. So why not Licence To Kill? After all, this is the movie that started the current trend, with Dalton's mature portrayal of Bond paving the way for Pierce Brosnan and, without doubt, Daniel Craig. It always amazes me that people do not give Dalton more respect for what he did with the character. This guy started the ball rolling. And boy did he give it a hard push. The characters in Licence To Kill are one of it's major plus points. James Bond is the most human we have seen him in 20 years, as Dalton brings a real sense emotional depth to the character; a tortured man full of hurt and pain and vengeance, his determined and stony face almost cracking with the burning hatred that is barely contained inside of him. We also get a strong female lead with Carey Lowell, whose portrayal of Pam Bouvier is at once intelligent, sexy, and funny. On the flip side of the coin, we have a genuinely terrifying villain in the shape of Robert Davi, playing his role deadly straight with not a hint of camp. It's a rare scenario where you feel Bond has met someone of equal competence. The Sanchez character is a frightening presence, and an early role from Benicio Del Toro is just as effective; his chilling grin a fear-inducing sight. Technically speaking, John Glen's direction is taught and assured, with the pace never really letting up for the 130+ minutes running time, save at the very end of the movie where the spectacular truck chase sequence perhaps drags just a little. The brilliant Michael Kamen also supplies us with an elegant, sensual and brooding score that is a vital player unto itself, complimenting the visuals excellently. In spite of these pluses, there are some minor quibbles. As I said before, the truck finale is perhaps a bit long, even though the stunt work is amazing, but it does slow the pace a bit. Talisa Soto is indeed beautiful as Sanchez' girlfriend but, bless her, she isn't exactly the most talented actress on the planet. She plays her part well enough, but the role isn't exactly Oscar-worthy, and it's not helped by the fact that the script tends to relegate her to the sidelines. Everett McGill's cigar-chomping Killifer is rather too pantomime for me - he just doesn't stand up to the characters of Sanchez or Anthony Zerbe's Krest but he doesn't stick around long so doesn't get in the way too much. With a striking leading man in Bond's shoes, Licence To Kill deserves a lot more credit than it gets. This is the film that broke the mould, opening the doors to a more adult, violent Bond world that continued briefly with some of the Brosnan films and certainly with Daniel Craig's portrayal of the character. In Timothy Dalton we have a brilliant actor in the starring role who brought us a more human and believable Bond, yet it is Daniel Craig who is currently getting the credit for these exact traits. Don't get me wrong, his characterisation is superb. But Dalton is the one who started it off, and it is a shame that he only made the two films. John Glen says that from all of the Bond movies that he directed, Licence To Kill is the one he is most proud of. And rightly so. Not only do we get a more fleshed-out character in Bond than previous outings, we get a more believable and mature storyline, with great characters and competent direction. Definitely one of the most underrated Bond movies, this engaging film is a great piece of entertainment, and one that I hope will gather praise with time. See it. 4 stars.

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• Hard-edged Bond film. Not a great commercial success, but it has interesting points.

  barnabyrudge2003-10-10

  Timothy Dalton only played Bond twice, but he tried to base his interpretation of the character on the descriptions provided by Ian Fleming in the original novels. Therefore, his Bond is quite ruthless and embittered, and always ready to stick two fingers up at the establishment if he feels they've got it wrong. Bond is vacationing in Florida, acting as best-man at his friend Felix Leiter's wedding, when the unthinkable happens. Leiter and his wife are assaulted by some Central American thugs; the wife is murdered and Leiter is crippled by sharks. Bond is obviously deeply unhappy about this, but his bosses instruct him to let the matter drop and get on with another assignment. 007 knows who is responsible for the injuries to his friend, so he revokes his licence to kill and becomes a rogue agent, tracking down the villainous drug lord Sanchez (Robert Davi) to his Latin America headquarters. Here, aided by Sanchez's unfaithful mistress Lupe (Talisa Soto) and CIA agent Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell), Bond attempts to wipe out their enormous clandestine drug operation single-handedly. There's definitely an uneasy, hard edge to the film which makes it unique among the Bond series. Whether or not this improves the film depends on your personal taste: if you like safe, humorous Roger Moore escapades, you'll probably find this too jarring, whereas if you prefer espionage stories with a bit of grit and sweat, this may be just what you're after. The action sequences are still outrageous in the tried-and-trusted Bond style, with memorable episodes featuring a daring helicopter .vs. airplane pursuit; a barefoot water-skiing sequence; and a truck chase down the side of a mountain. Some of the language, though not out-and-out "foul", is a bit stronger and more believable than in other Bond entries. The theme tune from Gladys Knight and the Pips is one of the better 007-tracks. Licence to Kill is a new twist on the Bond theme. It isn't the best, and some of its new ideas don't fit with the usual routine (which may or may not be a good thing), but it is certainly interesting.

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• Fleming's Bond is Back

  GaryMook1999-01-01

  This is the most underrated film in the series. It's ironic that the first of the EON films not to draw its title directly from an Ian Fleming story is also the closest in spirit to Fleming since "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Of course, the titles had long since become the ONLY connection between Fleming's original stories and the movies -- the film plots and Roger Moore's portrayal bore almost no resemblance to Fleming's Bond. In "License to Kill" continues what he started in "The Living Daylights": he portrays a Bond that is still an ultra-suave superagent, but is also moody and reckless -- in other words, human. Bond is driven to avenge the near murder of his friend Felix Leiter (and the murder of Leiter's wife) at the hands of drug lord Franz Sanchez. Sanchez is excellently played by Robert Davi. He ends up being assisted by CIA agent Pam Bouvier. Bouvier is played by Cary Lowell, in a performance that earns her automatic entry onto the list of top 5 all time Bond women. Some elements of the story come from Fleming's short story "The Hildebrande Rarity." Sanchez's doomed henchmen Milton Krest is lifted directly from "The Hildebrand Rarity," and elements of the relationship between Sanchez and his girlfriend Lupe echo that of Krest and his wife Liz in the original story. The other Fleming story drawn upon is "Live and Let Die" for the plot-driving scene in which Leiter is thrown to the sharks. (This marks the second time that Fleming's "Live and Let Die" was drawn upon for a key scene in a movie other than the film version of LALD. The other is the "dragged behind a speedboat over the reef" scene in "For Your Eyes Only." It kind of makes you wonder what the powers that be at EON were thinking when they couldn't find a place for these powerful, effective scenes in the pastiche that is LALD.) "License to Kill" features a realistic, believable story. Add to it the equal ruthlessness of Bond and Sanchez in their respective portrayals by Dalton and Davi and you have a movie that will stand out over time as one of the best in the series.

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• Underrated, misunderstood entry in the 007 Series

  Chris W.2003-07-01

  Licence To Kill came out during the huge box office summer of '89 (which included Batman, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters II, etc). Unfortunately, lousy advertising and Timothy Dalton's lack of appeal to American audiences did not bring in the big bucks that could have been expected. While the film did not do great in the US compared to other Bond films, it still did well overseas. Because of the assumption that LTK was a flop, people consider it one of the weakest entries in the series. Needless to say, they're dead wrong. (Possible Spoilers) Sanchez is one of the most realistic, deadly villains Bond has ever met, and this is also 007's most personal mission yet. Felix Leiter, the trusted ally and Bond's best friend is fed to sharks and his newlywed bride has been murdered. After Bond decides to attend to Felix and find out what happens and doesn't leave for his mission, he resigns and his license to kill is revoked by M. Bond goes on a personal vendetta which involves more spying, more detective work and less gadgets and over the top villanious plans. Licence to Kill isn't everybody's cup of tea, and some think it's a Charles Bronson rip off, but personally I see it as more of an Ian Fleming Bond movie, which is ironic since this is the first movie title not to be taken from a Fleming novel. Q has a nice supporting role rather than the smaller role he usually has. In a way, I always see Licence to Kill to be the end of an era for Bond films. It seemed with Goldeneye's release in 1995, Pierce Brosnan's Bond is not the same Bond as portrayed by his four predecessors. I don't know why, but with Felix Leiter out of action, Bond losing his license, the last appearance of so many members of the Bond crew and cast, it seems like Dalton's final portrayal was the end of one continuity, and Brosnan's is a new, revamped Bond. Nonetheless, this is one of the best Bond films of the entire series, both pre-Brosnan and the Brosnan era.

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