With Skyfall dropping in theaters in just a couple months, along with the 50th anniversary of the James Bond series, a close friend and fellow film nerd, Brandon Peters, has generously offered to do a comprehensive review of the entire 007 film franchise. Today is the sixteenth entry, with a full review of Timothy Dalton's second and sadly final turn as James Bond, License to Kill. I hope you enjoy what is a pretty massive feature leading up the November 9th release of Skyfall. I'll do my best to leave my two-cents out of it, give or take a few items I have up my sleeve (including a possible guest review from my wife as she sings the praises of her favorite 007 film, you won't believe what it is). But just because I'm stepping aside doesn't mean you should. Without further ado...License To Kill
Why don’t you waituntil you’re asked?
Why don’t you ask me?
~Exchange betweenJames Bond and Pam Bouvier
STATS
Director John Glen finishes out his tenure as director ofthe James Bond franchise delivering the film he was trying to make with hisfirst effort (For Your Eyes Only). The film takes a much darker and grittycourse than any preceding 007 entry. Thescript and direction plays in favor to Timothy Dalton’s strengths as James Bondthat would make Ian Fleming smile if he were around to see it. In a summer movie season packed with morecolorful large scale pictures the initial reaction to License To Kill was not that of a positive one, and audiences didspeak with their wallets.
On the day of fellow CIA associate Felix Leiter’s wedding,Leiter is able to capture the elusive drug kingpin Franz Sanchez. Sanchez is able to sway a CIA operative tohelp him escape custody during a transfer. He returns to stake his vengeance on Leiter and his new bride, killingher and severely wounding Felix. Allthis magically happens on the same day, no doubt. When James Bond gets word he goes rogue, teamingwith CIA informant Pam Bouvier and vowing to infiltrate and take down Sanchezon his own terms.
Once again, the James Bond franchise takes it inspirationfrom other sources. This time, the filmfits right in line with the “hard R” violent action pictures on the 1980s. The violence is bloody and it looks like ithurts. If you add some curse words,there wouldn't be much separating it from them. Also, Sanchez’s home base and operations come right out of the BrianDePalma film Scarface. And at times the movie really looks and feelslike you’re watching Scarface. The meetings between Bond and Sanchez capturevery much the vibe Tony Montana and Alejandro Sosa’s first meet up.
This style also plays benefit to Timothy Dalton’s Bond. The guy already felt comfortable with hisplace as Bond in the last film, but here he elevates it. The character of Andrew on Buffy the Vampire Slayer definitely hadit right, the man truly is an overlooked gem of the series and it’s a shamethis would be only his second and final appearance. He takes the cold gruff of Connery and buildshis character out of it. He doesn’treally carry the swagger or smoothness of Roger Moore and Sean Connery, but youreally buy this guy as a secret agent able to muscle out of stickysituations. Maybe Dalton is more in lineas the “action hero James Bond” as his type. By the end of the film, we also get to see Bond more beat up andbloodied than ever before. So far inthis series, he IS the closest representation to the literary character we’vehad (although, looks-wise, he’s more handsome than the pages describe).
Another benefit to the Dalton era is that he did as much ofthe stunt work as was allowed. Thisreally brings an extra layer of thrill to watching it. It’s a challenge to try to find Dalton’sstuntman when watching an action sequence. The biggest highlight comes early on during an underwater escape thatwinds up in him harpooning a plane and barefoot skiing behind it. Many of the action scenes in general justgive that real vibe you don’t get anymore. And the violence and blood level are taken up many levels as well. This is the first Bond film to get a PG-13 ratingas well.
Its almost criminal that Robert Davi as Franz Sanchez isnever in discussion when great Bond villains are the subject. This man is incredibly scary and dangerous. He is also pretty ruthless. Sanchez is a very dark and disturbingindividual when it comes to disposing of those who cross him. And when he thinks he’s been betrayed, hebecomes a loose canon. When Bondbefriends him in an attempt to infiltrate and learn more about his operations,you are just sitting and praying he doesn't discover Bond’s true motivations. He may lose his cool, but he’s always incharge and no one dare step in front of him. The character of Sanchez and his operation is a successfully executedversion of Dr. Kananga from Live and LetDie.
The Bond women in this one aren't as strong as the lone onein the last outing, but they aren’t any slouches either. Lupe Lamora is a much better rendition ofAndrea from Man With The Golden Gun. She’s stuck with Sanchez due to his obsessionwith her, but wants out bad. And I don’tbelieve Bond to be in love with her, but sleeps with her to earn her trust andassistance to help him take down Sanchez. While she’s not perfectly characterized, Cary Lowell’s Pam Bouvier comesoff as extremely likable and charming. For the first time, Bond sleeps with 2 women and it results in a lovetriangle with emotional consequences. Ido enjoy that while Bouvier is a little bit school-girl upset, she is still isable to push it aside to accomplish the mission at hand with class. None of her feelings toward Bond cloud herability to take on the mission.
One of the only missteps in the film, and I’ll allow itbecause I like the character, is the over usage of Q. He appears to help out Bond, but sticksaround and feels shoehorned in to the plot and action. His quipping and goofiness feels a little outof place in this dark revenge story. They probably felt they had to put him in somewhere, and decided he’d bethere to give a break from the tension, but in the end, he just doesn't work.
The summer of 1989 was a big summer of franchise releases atthe box office. Tim Burton’s Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Ghostbusters II, The KarateKidd Part III, Lethal Weapon 2, Friday the 13th Part VIII: JasonTakes Manhattan and A Nightmare onElm Street 5: The Dream Child all came up to bat that summer. Somewhere lost among all this was License to Kill. While grossing $156 million worldwide, themovie was on the lower end of the Bond intake. Budgeted on $32 million, it only managed to gross $34 million in the US. This film really isn't near as bad as thisbox office is suggesting. Its quite goodand much better than most of those franchise films that out-grossed it. However, you have a dirty, violent grittyBond film that just isn't the fun family get together at the movies.
All the previous entries you could take thekids to and everyone would have fun. License to Kill was far too adult. It turned off the family going crowd anddidn’t have the hard R rating to attract the action crowd like a Lethal Weapon. It was just sifting in its own little cornernot attractive to any core audience. Thesummer is a place for big movies like a Bond film, but this one was far moresuited for a November release (which, not surprisingly, is where they wouldmove to). Unappreciated on its initial release, License To Kill stands the test of time far better than most of itspredecessors. It’s a welcome change oftone for the series. A lot of peopleknocked it when it came out due to “straying too far from the path”, but why wouldn't you want that (as long as the film is a competent acceptable piece ofgood entertainment). This was the 16thfilm in the franchise, heaven forbid we give something new a shot.
Timothy Dalton gives a top notch Bondperformance to compliment his already superb debut. The filmmakers give us a story driven andsomewhat original story to follow. It’sgritty, violent and has a narrative and action pieces that are both engagingand genuine. You don’t see movies like License To Kill made anymore. It’s a real treat to throwback to this era,which this film surprisingly still holds up strong even being a byproduct ofit. Sadly, Timothy Dalton’s James Bondera is only this one-two punch. Lookingback, hopefully more will take a look and appreciate him and the films in thisshort lived tenure. James Bond would nowgo on its longest hiatus (six years), losing Dalton along the way, beforelighting up movie screens around the world.
Brandon Peters will return in Goldeneye
Follow me on Twitter – www.twitter.com/@btpeters
*Eric Clapton made a title song for the film, but it wasrejected by the producers.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder