1987-1989: The Dalton Era
In past entries, I have made only passing references to the work of John Barry, the film composer who was instrumental in the creation of the iconic James Bond theme as well as the scores of many Bond films to come. If one were to make a list of the people who were most important to the history of the James Bond series, Barry would be near the top. With every Bond film he scored, it was obvious he was right on the same wavelength as the material, even making some of the worst in the series (cough, The Man with the Golden Gun, cough) sound much better than they are.
Sadly, this past week, John Barry passed away at 77 years of age. He’s known for scoring many a successful film, but undoubtedly the James Bond films remain his most famous achievements. He was able to adapt to changing eras while still keeping the music rooted in the classic Bond style. Coincidentally, Barry’s last film as Bond composer would be The Living Daylights. As usual, Barry’s score is pretty excellent; also notable because he incorporates some electronics into the mix without making it too grating. The only time the era of the music becomes obvious is during a-ha’s theme song, which plays over the typically fun opening credits.
However, The Living Daylights is better known for another reason: it was the first James Bond film starring Timothy Dalton, better known to Toy Story 3 viewers as Mr. Pricklepants. He had been asked to take the role many years before, but he turned it down fearing he was too young. By the time the ’80s came around he was a bit older and ready to take on the James Bond role.
The filmmakers, including screenwriters Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum, knew that they had to abandon the Roger Moore way of doing things. As a result, The Living Daylights is a much more down-to-earth Bond. It doesn’t get too serious (wait one more film for that) but it’s still a solid Bond film that does a great job of introducing the world to a new man willing to don the tux.
Where Moore’s Bond was a comedian posing as a spy, Dalton plays Bond as a secret agent first; joker and seducer second. He’s still quite taken with the opposite sex, but not to a fault. Moore could feasibly be lured in to a trap because of an attractive woman. I don’t see that happening with Dalton. He doesn’t trust anyone.
Also, Moore’s Bond would sleep with several women per film. With Dalton, the filmmakers made a conscious decision to make him more monogamous. The Living Daylights is certainly lacking in some areas, but Bond’s female counterpart is not one of them. Maryam d’Abo plays Kara Milvoy, one of the simpler female protagonists the series ever produced. She’s a simple cello player that stumbles into the middle of Bond’s mission, yet she’s not inept. She’s intelligent without being Bond’s superior, and simple without being the second coming of Mary Goodnight. Kara’s romantic relationship with Bond in The Living Daylights is one of the most believable and engaging in the series.
There are several legitimate complaints to be made about The Living Daylights. It’s a bit too long, the story’s a bit hard to track, and the villains really aren’t all that menacing. However, the strength of The Living Daylights lies with the introduction of Dalton as James Bond. Admittedly, he could never quite nail the witty one-liners, but that’s a small price to pay when you get such a potentially great action star. The filmmakers saw the potential, and as such they may have gotten a little greedy, but in the process they created one of the best and most memorable films in the franchise. This film is Licence to Kill.
The James Bond series has tried three times to redefine itself as a more serious and down-to-earth product many times. However, not until 2006’s Casino Royale would the public accept the drastic changes. The first attempt came in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a pretty terrific film that was hampered simply because the people wanted their precious Sean Connery back. Licence to Kill came in 1989, and it gave the filmmakers a second crack at the whole “getting serious” thing. Once again, the film itself is terrific. Sadly, the public chose to reject it.
Perhaps this is understandable, as the film asserts early and often that those seeking the typical Bond escapism will be sorely disappointed. It begins with Franz Sanchez, a drug lord played by Robert Davi, flying into the Bahamas. It’s there he finds his mistress Lupe (Talisa Soto) sleeping with a strange man. Sanchez then proceeds to whip Lupe while his henchmen (led by a young Benicio del Toro) cut out the heart of her lover in the next room.
Things start looking up, however, when Bond flies into the Bahamas with Felix Leiter to capture Sanchez. It all ends with Bond being lowered from a helicopter onto the tail of Sanchez’s flying plane, where he ties it up so the helicopter may carry it away. Oh, and Felix is in the middle of getting married. He and Bond are able to parachute down to the church where the ceremonies are taking place immediately after capturing Sanchez. The sequence is able to end in thrillingly Bondian fashion.
But hold the phone! Immediately after the opening credits Sanchez is able to escape from custody thanks to his well-known ability to bribe the authorities. Thirsty for vengeance, he has Felix’s new wife murdered, then lowers Felix into a pool filled with sharks. Felix survives, but loses a leg in the process. Most Bond films stray away from such brutality, as hurting the good guys is usually off-limits. Not anymore. Licence to Kill begins in a much darker place than most Bond films. For once, a Bond movie gives us a world that isn’t so simple and light-hearted.
James is not happy about all this, obviously, and he begins his own quest for revenge which will encompass the rest of the movie. Timothy Dalton plays Bond quite mean in Licence to Kill, making it clear that this mission is personal and not in the best interest of Queen and country. In fact, his superiors at MI6 even revoke Bond’s license to kill (hence the title), and for the rest of the film Bond becomes a rogue agent.
The characters in Licence to Kill are more interesting than in most Bond films, and that starts with Bond himself. He remains his typical determined self, telling everyone who offers their help that he works better alone. This includes Q, the series’ famous gadget man who has long had a playfully strained relationship with James. In Licence to Kill, he flies out to help Bond out, even though his help isn’t always wanted. This is the kind of larger role I’ve always wanted of Q, and it’s another reason why Licence to Kill is so terrific. (Not to mention it provides a bit of much-needed comic relief.)
Bond’s female counterpart in Licence to Kill, played by Carey Lowell, is also harder-edged than most, and acts as a fun counterpoint to Bond’s misogynistic tendencies, something this film is quite aware of. On top of all this lies Sanchez, who is not your usual Bond villain in many ways. Not only is he brutal, he is also incredibly paranoid, willing to kill anyone who even looks at him funny, even those out to help him. Instead of calm, cool and collected, he seems absolutely insane. Most Bond villains aren’t so sloppy. In Licence to Kill, James Bond doesn’t bring down Sanchez in the usual way. He makes Sanchez being down himself.
When Licence to Kill is over, you realize you have truly seen something better than the average Bond film. For once, when the villain is defeated, the viewer feels truly glad that it all turned out okay. There’s never really any doubt, it’s still a Bond movie after all, but Sanchez’s spectacular death is effective because we feel as if we have actually seen evil defeated. Throughout most of the James Bond series, the villains have often been cartoon characters that we love to hate. Sanchez we just hate, and we’re glad to see him go. In Licence to Kill¸ the stakes actually feel relatively high.
Making this film was a bold move for all involved, and creatively it all paid off quite well. Sadly, the public wasn’t so fond of Licence to Kill, and it didn’t do all that great at the box office. While this was only Timothy Dalton’s second film as James Bond, it would end up being his last. His career would not be drastically hurt by his short tenure as Bond, and in recent years he’s done quite well for himself in more comedic work such as Hot Fuzz and the NBC show Chuck. (He was in The Tourist as well, but that’s all I’ll say about that.) He’s one of the better actors to play James Bond; he just didn’t have enough time to stretch his wings fully.
After Licence to Kill, the makers of the Bond series entered a series of legal disputes which would delay the creation of the next Bond film, and the series would enter a six year hiatus. When the next Bond film entered production, it was Pierce Brosnan who was hired to fill the shoes of those before him.
Next Week: We enter the Pierce Brosnan era with Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies.
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