Licence to Kill (1989)
Timothy Dalton's second and sadly final outing as 007 is a harder edged film than what had come previously with some of it's violence deemed as excessive at it's time of release.
Set in central America this isn't the usual country hopping Bond film which actually benefits as we have a tighter storyline that although lacking the flair of a typical Bond adventure actually means we have a more gripping and grounded affair overall culminating in a film that is more From Russia With Love than it is Moonraker yet not straying as far away from the Bond formula as some would have you believe.
Whilst Dalton isn't my favourite Bond i do rather like him in the role. He has more depth than any of his predecessors and it's a shame he wasn't given the chance to make the superb Goldeneye six years down the line.
The film scores well with me as it gives Desmond Lewellyn's Q a lot to do given that he's helping a rogue 007 avenge a fatal attack on friend and CIA operative Felix Leiter's wedding by drug kingpin Franz Sanchez (an excellent Robert Davi). However despite Q's prolonged presence it's not a gadget laden film by any means nor are Carey Lowell and Talisa Soto your typical Bond girls.
More thriller than action film, Licence to Kill is bookended by a couple of terrific action set pieces, one in the air, the other with oil tanker trucks, but it's the exploration of the rogue Bond that gives the film an edge and makes it one of the very best in the series.
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