Plot: James Bond (Timothy Dalton) takes on his most daring adventure ever when he turns renegade and goes head to head with one of the international drug cartel's most brutal and powerful leaders. This time, he's fighting not for country, not for justice...but for revenge!
Firsts: Bond goes rogue, an actor returns to play Felix Leiter (David Hedison)
Gadgets: Video camera that turns into a rifle, toothpaste explosive with cigarette detanator, cummerbund with repelling gear, and Polaroid camera with laser flash
Girls Bond slept with: Pam Bouvier and Lupe Lamora
Elaborate murder attempt that Bond escapes: Placed on a conveyor belt leading to a grinder.
Personal review: I don't recall especially enjoying this one in the past, but this time around, I thought this was a really solid effort. Had Dalton been able to produce a couple more films like this one, he might not have gotten such a bad reputation as Bond. He still plays the character a bit too serious, but it was definitely an improved effort here. I think more so than being too serious, Dalton's greatest flaw was that he never seemed to be much of a ladies man. He didn't bring enough suave to the character, which I think is a major element needed for an actor to work as Bond.
The strongest part of this film I felt was the action. There are several really good scenes and most of them felt unique as well. The capturing of Sanchez to begin the film is one of the series' best openers. Then you have some quality stuff with Bond jetskiing to catch the plane and the concluding stuff involving the oil tankers. These were exciting scenes and really well done.
The film's other strong suit is Sanchez's cadre of henchmen. I don't know if there has been any other Bond film that had such a large cast of sleazy, slimy characters. You have Milton Krest, Hiller, Professor Joe and Dario (a young Benecio Del Toro) all playing pretty despicable guys. But perhaps worst of all is Truman-Lodge who is your typical 80's yuppie scum (Trivia note: This is the same guy who played 'Jimmy' on that infamous episode of Seinfeld). His character is so damn annoying and loathesome that I was hoping for a more elaborate death for him than simply having Sanchez shoot him.
Speaking of Sanchez, Robert Davi did a fine job in this role. I really liked how they played up the character's paranoia. We finally got to see Bond use some of that British intelligence to mess with his head instead of simply being a killing machine. I will say though that as fun as it is for Bond to feed into Sanchez's paranoia, it seems a bit farfetched for him to be able to remain undercover for as long as he did. I mean, where was Dario for most of the movie?
One of the more intriguing elements of the film is the fact that Bond breaks orders to do this mission. A rogue Bond has all sorts of potential, but they really didn't do enough with it. Given that this seems to be a plot point in the new Bond film, I hope they do a more adequate job of playing it up.
The film only has one major flaw and that is a terrible Bond girl. Carey Lowell is probably my second least favorite Bond girl behind Jill St. John and there are several reasons for my dislike of her. First, I cannot stand that boyish haircut she gets that so many women of the 80s seemed to have. Totally unappealing. Second, I never like it when the Bond girls get all chummy with the rest of the MI6 crew, in this case Q. It makes it seem like anyone could hang out with these supposed 'secret' agents. Finally, this girl is a stage five clinger. Seeing her mope whenever Bond wouldn't pay attention to her or flirt with Lupe was so annoying. Throughout the film, I was begging Bond to choose Lupe over her, but alas he didn't. After the yawner that was Olivia D'Abo in his previous film, Dalton really needed a stronger Bond girl here and didn't get it.
If you've never seen Dalton as Bond, do yourself a favor and definitely see this one. Even though the plot and feel of the film is very much rooted in the 80s, it is still a decent action flick. Dalton may get a bad rap for his portrayal of Bond, but there are certainly worst Bond films than this one. It's a shame he never had an opportunity to build off of this performance and legitimize himself as Bond, but just like Bond had his license to kill revoked in the film, Dalton had his license to play Bond taken away from him. Next up, the Brosnan era. 8/10
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