Bond:
Bond is back, well the 4th Bond is back, Timothy Dalton, the uncaring Bond, is a little bit more caring. He is so caring that in the opening scene he kisses and embraces a bride to be of his good friend twice. Maybe a little too caring James Bond. This James Bond is a good combination of the skilled spy with the killer moves and a little bit more touch of the human side, making choices about his friends over the mission and women and "love?" over sex. This balance made for one of my favorite Bond's so far. I thought he was classy, upstanding, proud, skilled, smart, and well put together. After The Living Daylights, this is a huge improvement, and one of my favorite Bond performances so far.
Bond Girls:
Like the previous this Bond movie cuts down on the women, with just 2, and both women are more like relationships than random rendezvous. The first is a Hispanic beauty that is the kept woman of the Villain. Her name is Lupe Lamora, she wants out of her current life and sees Bond as her way out. She is skilled at lying to her Villain lover to help Bond do what must be done. She is beautiful and classy. A perfect Bond girl. The second is Pam Bouvier, a former Army pilot with the fighting skills and the poise to handle a spy situation. She starts off a little ragged, but cleans up and nicely and becomes one of my favorite Bond girls. The way this movie ended it seemed to imply a lot more than just a sexual relationship with Bond and to me it would seem like we would see her in the next movie. We shall see.
Villain/Threat:
The Villain is a Sanchez, played by Robert Davi, who controls a huge drug cartel so big he runs a country in South America. He has placed a figure head that is on his payroll along with the whole government. This is not so much a movie about a global threat and is more a revenge movie, and Sanchez is the target. Sanchez is an one of the most evil villains of Bond yet. He loves control and order, chooses loyalty over money, and will kill if someone crosses him. He wants to control more drugs and power, and will kill anyone that gets in his way. Where most villains before killed the faceless masses, Sanchez is personal with his kills, killing people we have come to know in the movie, without regret or remorse. It paints him as a far more deadly man, than those just a few movie before that will kill millions.
Gadgets:
No car in Licence To Kill, and most gadgets here are helpful, and do not look toward the future. A plastic explosive in a toothpaste tube, with a cigarette pack remote detonator. A broom that doubles as a radio. A Polaroid camera with a laser flash that is not used in the field, and a gun that imprints to a certain user so only Bond can use it. The gun was very cool technology and the one thing that looked to the future. Overall the gadgets were just a small part of Licence To Kill, it fit with the plot however so I am not disappointed in seeing more.
Overall:
This is a far better movie than the previous one by Timothy Dalton. I liked it very much. It really felt like the first modern Bond movie. There were an excess of explosions, and over the top technical stunts that we see in today's movies. Everything about this movie seemed polished, smarter, thought out, and very well put together. The plot was a detour from the many previous movies and it was a nice change, that still fit within the Bond character. A nice addition to the Bond catalog.
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