Licence to Ill
[spoilers follow]
In Brosnan's work, we saw the Bond formula tilt perhaps too much to action, leavened by a cheery, slightly wooden mannequin. But in Licence To Kill, we get something completely different.
This is Bond reimagined as noir. The cartoonish hero of the Brosnan films has become a hard man going his own way. Bond is basically Parker. Dalton nails this Bond -- who is close to the Bond of the books -- or at least nearly so. He's often been criticised for lacking the charm and wit of the other Bonds, but in fact, he only loses form when he's forced to say something witty or charming, which doesn't work.
But here's the problem. Bond *is* charming and Bond *is* witty. Film Bond is not a noir antihero. He can be brutal but he is not afraid to wink and lay out a quip or two. Even Craig can do that dry witticism ("How was your lamb?" "Skewered. One sympathises.")
So this is almost Bond without Bond. Does that work?
Well yes. It's actually a fine film. Taut, violent, complex. It's one of the better noir thrillers you'll see. And if it was outside the Bond series, it -- and crucially, Dalton -- would get the praise it deserves. What's good? The cold open is fun. The dialogue is usually passable if low on fun. Talisa Soto is undercooked but Carey Lowell seethes, pouts and kicks arse. The villain steers well clear of cliche while being just the right amount of narco nasty. The action, though sparing, is well framed and Dalton is credible as the hero. There are no doublehanded machine gun antics, no invisible cars, the Q magic is restrained (and we have to remember that this was something we actually looked forward to back in the day). The settings work too. Bond always seems well suited to the Caribbean. And the pace is relaxed -- thriller not action banger -- so there's time for characters to shine and several (Dalton, Lowell, Davi, Zerbe, even del Toro) do.
I'm going to say this is a solid B if you imagine a main character called Bond James, who is some sort of operative on a mission. If you insist it's a Bond film, well, maybe just a C. I've seen people suggest it's akin to Casino Royale but that has far more action and is much more "Bond".
posted by Dr Zen @ 8:10 pm
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