License To Kill

Ooh this is a tough call.

I honestly kind of like Licence To Kill just a tiny bit more than The Living Daylights, and I really enjoy that movie! I have no issue saying this is one of the best Bond stories, it's like For Your Eyes Only but incredibly commited and even better. We meet up with Bond on Felix's wedding day after they arrested a drug lord but he escapes and comes after Felix and his wife, leading Bond on a full fledged revenge mission as a rogue agent from MI6. Oh my God. I am so onboard with this story, you don't need to do a thing. I am there and I am loving it. It's a shame Dalton never got one more crack as 007 because he is really really good in this movie, and I know some say his intense attitude was occasionally off in the last movie which is somewhat true, but here I totally buy it. He friggin' wants this guy dead and will do anything to avenge his longtime friend. It kind of cut me a little seeing Bond show such love and kindness to Felix and his wife Della just to have this horrible thing happen to them, and the fact they brought up Tracy made me get misty eyed a little. He just loses friend after friend, ally after ally, and it really makes you get behind Bond's actions all the way through. I think this is a great story and one that was worth telling! The performances really sold me on this story, as I said Dalton is damn good in this movie and I feel people focus too much on the violence to really appreciate his performance. Robert Davi is such a good villain, he does downright gruesome things yet still has an air of charm and likability at times and his death is perfection honestly. Carey Lowell is a very good Bond girl in my eyes, kind of a more action more than words type of character though she certainly doesn't mind calling bullshit when she sees it, she's one of the finer Bond girls of the series. There's a handful of people you may kind of recognize in the story, we have two Mortal Kombat actors in this movie specifically Katana and Shang Tsung which is kind of cool to see, Benecio del Toro is the main henchman and it's really neat to see him in one of his earliest roles, but strangest of all Wayne Newton the famous singer plays a minor part in this movie and I swear to God I couldn't believe it was him even with my own two eyes. The action is pretty great at times, in particular the big rig truck chase at the end I mean damn guys, good show! So well done, and people throw a fit over, "Oh this movie's too dark and violent, I can't take my 7 year old to see this James Bond movie!" yes because clearly the James Bond series was created for pre-teen audiences. I was watching Goldeneye when I was 4 years old, and yes my parents and even grandparents were slightly concerned about that but they let me watch it anyway because I loved the movies for everything they did and not just certain, uh...elements. My point is, the violence should not take away from your experience unless you are really squeamish around blood. It's telling a very realistic and very serious movie, and I applaud the producers for taking that chance and doing something daring with a very formulaic movie series at this point. You need to shake it up occasionally! There was no harm done by this movie, but the production problems made this the last Bond film for 6 years and good God did they make that comeback worth the wait! Next time, this is where the fun begins. 4 stars from me, with a sterling 8/10!