The 007 Project: Licence to Kill

Synopsis in 3 sentences or less:

Felix Leiter's wedding is interrupted by the capture and escape of a drug kingpin, who then murders Leiter's wife and feeds Leiter to sharks. Bond vows revenge without the approval of M or MI6, who disavow him and revoke his license to kill, forcing Bond to go it alone with only the help of a CIA informant and Q.  

Memorable Quote:
Are you all right?  ~Pam

Switch the bloody machine off!  ~Bond

Highlight:

The one-two punch of Robert Davi (Sanchez) and Benicio Del Toro (Dario) as villains. Davi's Sanchez effortlessly switches from cool and charming to ruthless and angry, and Del Toro (who was only 22 at the time) portrays Dario with an abundance of menace and swagger. I remember the first time I saw this movie, Del Toro stood out to me as being very memorable and talented, and it's not surprising that he became a more famous actor. 

Lowlight:

I don't like how M and his men shoot at Bond when he escapes, like WTF are you doing shooting at Bond? That is so wrong. And then M stops one of his men from shooting with a reason of "No, too many people!" How about, "No, that is our best agent who has risked life and limb on countless occasions and is now trying to righteously avenge his friend by going after a dangerous drug kingpin!"

Most interesting piece of IMDB trivia:

The scene where Bond resigns from the MI6 was shot at Ernest Hemingway's house in Key West. That's why when M (Robert Brown) informs 007 that his licence to kill is revoked, he replies, "I guess this is a farewell to arms," a nod to one of Hemingway's most famous novels.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• I never noticed until this viewing that the official movie title includes the British spelling of Licence rather than License. 
• Interesting opening where we see Bond in a different context than what we're accustomed to, as a best man at a wedding. 
• 12:36 mark -- Della tells Bond it's "custom" for the best man to kiss the bride and then kisses him twice on the lips. 
• Amazing that Felix survives the shark attack.  The shark attack and the line "He disagreed with something that ate him" come from the Live and Let Die novel. 
• When Bond finishes off the corrupt DEA agent (played by the same actor who was the bad guy in Under Siege 2), did he really have to throw the 2 million dollars into the shark-infested water with the guy? Reminds me of the MacGyver episode Jack in the Box where MacGvyer somewhat unnecessarily lets the 5 million dollars blow up with the dynamite. 
• Talisa Soto is excellent in the role of Lupe -- like Del Toro, she was only 22 at the time. 
• 48:03 -- No one is strong enough to hold on to a plane like that with one hand while it's moving and twisting at high speeds. 
• 50:12 -- Did they really have computer CD drives back then?
• Memorable role for Q here, who gets to do some actual field work. 
• 1:18:30 -- They don't show how Bond got down from the building. I guess we're supposed to think he climbed up the rope back to the roof.  
• 1:23:00 -- Whoa, it's a Christopher Neame sighting! He was in three episodes of MacGyver as three different villains. 
• Interesting appearance by Wayne Newton as the shady con-man salesman. 
• 1:42:14 -- Lupe really turning the screws on Pam: "Last night he stayed with me" and "I love James so much."
• 2:00:17 -- When Bond sees the bad guy down the road about to fire a missile at him, instead of jumping out of the truck, he does a side wheelie with the truck so that the missile flies right under it. It's the second unlikeliest thing to happen in a Bond movie (we'll get to the most unlikeliest in the next post). 

Final Analysis:

While I've seen this movie a few times, I didn't remember it well upon viewing it now. I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end -- great locales, great villains, end-to-end action, a story that made sense, and a slightly edgier, more human Bond. Ranking it 1 out of 16.

And a quick word on Timothy Dalton. Overall I liked him better than Connery or Moore. I didn't love him -- his Bond is somewhat dour and dull, but he did bring a human quality to the role, and I didn't find him to be annoyingly smug as I sometimes did with Connery or as silly as I sometimes did with Moore.