Licence to Kill
1989 · Directed by John Glen
Original language: English
- adventure
- action
- thriller
The story
After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.
What it’s like
Hot, saturated daylight does most of the work here: Florida Keys marinas and turquoise shallows, then dusty Isthmus streets and a glittering casino, all bleached by a tropical sun and sharpened by 1980s film stock. The camera moves briskly, with handheld chases through heat haze, speedboat sprays, and plane-to-water action. Michael Kamen's score is loud and synthetic, with brass stabs and a power-ballad title track, so the mood swings between pulpy glamour and grim rage. The vibe is sun-scorched vengeance: a lonely, reckless hero, a rotten drug empire, and little tenderness. Violence is frequent and often brutal, with shootings, fistfights, a man fed to a shark, and a gruesome death in an industrial setting, so this does not suit anyone seeking gentleness. Sexual content is brief and mostly suggestive. It suits a loud, late-night action watch or a nostalgic rewatch for viewers who want a grittier, angrier Bond, a tougher, less polished take on the franchise, with its tropical setting used as a backdrop for revenge.
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