The Living Daylights

If you've been following along with this exciting series of Retro Reviews specific to the Bond franchise, you're well aware that I'm now at the short-lived Timothy Dalton era. 

Behind the scenes of all this, I've secretly been most interested to see Dalton's pair of films. I've seen him in later TV series (Chuck and more recently Doom Patrol) and have really enjoyed him, so the premise of him only getting two - largely forgotten by most accounts - Bond films was strange to me. 

I'm also ready to move on to an actor who's age appropriate in the role. Despite how much I may have enjoyed Never Say Never Again (it was still technically an "unofficial" Bond film), I've grown weary of the geriatric nature of the men portraying the role across Octopussy, Never Say Never Again, and especially A View to a Kill...and let's be honest, For Your Eyes Only to some degree.

Put simply, this was the most excited I've been to watch a Bond film since The Spy Who Loved Me. 

Aside from shortcomings of the film itself, I rather enjoyed The Living Daylights and as far as I'm concerned, it's the best "first" Bond film for any actor yet (not including On Her Majesty's Secret Service). To a certain extent, this doesn't feel quite like a 007 film which is a statement that becomes immensely more interesting based on the lens through which I say it. Purely only taking the films before it into consideration, this feels more serious and action-oriented (not surprising for the 80s) than most of Moore's films and Dalton doesn't feel as womanizing/invincible as Connery. It's a new take for Bond, but if I consider the film looking backward from the Brosnan and especially Craig era that I'm most familiar with, this is quite in line with what I've come to expect from Bond films. In a way, I almost wonder if audiences were not ready for a more serious Bond at the time of The Living Daylights.

The film itself has a host of issues that brought it down a couple notches for me. None of them ruin it by any means, but they're instead components that must be present for a Bond film to reach "Classic" status and that's just not the case here. While I applaud the film's refocus on espionage and actual spying, the plot is very convoluted for the first half, if not the whole film. Alliances seem to come and go and I was hard pressed to know exactly what the objective was throughout until the final half hour. This use of smokescreens led to a weak villain that doesn't wholly emerge until the end. And even once he emerges, General Whitaker is a lame and weird villain, outfitted with dolls and toys and models of wars past - like an unthreatening child. In fact, outside of Bond, the supporting characters are uninteresting. John Rhys-Davies makes an impact, but doesn't get enough screen time and while I enjoyed Bond girl Kara Milovy (played by Maryam d'Abo), I attribute that more to her looks than the character herself who's often damsel-in-distress for most of her scenes. 

Finally a new Aston Martin!!

Luckily, I find Dalton to be a solid choice for Bond. Through my background research, I've known he's been in the running for several films now and interestingly lost this bid originally to Pierce Brosnan, who would eventually take the role but had the offer rescinded due to a TV show conflict. Dalton's Bond is more based on the James from the novels - a bit more of a serious hero - and the push forward from the cartoonish personality that has existed in Moore's films or overly aggressive machismo/womanizing of Connery's films is a welcome shift toward a more realistic and well-rounded character (again, getting echoes of Craig here...). Is Dalton the best Bond yet? No, that's not what I'm saying and honestly I haven't spent a lot of time (yet) thinking of how I'd rank them, but his ability to make the character his own is impressive even if at times it feels slightly less Bond and slightly more "action hero". 

Speaking of action, this is a solid little action film that has some very fun scenes. Not all scenes are equal, but the highlights shine. The new Aston Martin is another worthy addition to Bond's vehicular arsenal and is probably the best driving/chase scene since The Spy Who Loved Me's bombastic Lotus sequence. It's filmed well to create excitement and there are enough fun gadgets, stunts, and explosions to keep it interesting. The finale has echoes of Indiana Jones (and also very clearly inspired a specific Nathan Drake videogame) that is a full scale battle on an airstrip. It's effective and fun, if not somewhat awkwardly staged, but I attribute that a little more to the fact it was a 1987 film.

The influences of this scene on Uncharted 3 were not lost on me...

The Living Daylights is a quality Bond film and a successful introduction to a new style of the British spy. Dalton is a much different Bond and this is a different tone, but it's one that my generation is more used to and is perhaps why these actioners have aged well. Gone are a majority of the quips and one-liners and overt womanizing. Unfortunately certain parts of the film aren't up to snuff, but the sum of the parts is still an encouraging signal to a new era of Bond (that will be short lived, it would seem).

CONS

• The story is a bit of a mess and hard to keep track of
• Villain(s) are weak and none are all that intimidating
• Supporting characters are forgettable too...I feel like Kara had the opportunity to be a stronger Bond girl
• The attempts at humor (which are few) don't really land

PROS

• Dalton makes the role his own in many ways. I like him as Bond (and came in with a very positive opinion of him)
• More serious tone with a focus on espionage and action is a smart move for the series. The cartoonish stuff of previous films (Tarzan yell, anyone?) was a huge turn-off for me
• Solid action with a few standout scenes. Loved having an Aston Martin back in the picture and the finale is fun
• Dalton's chemistry with d'Abo (which would be easy, she's gorgeous)
• Original score with 80s vibes was fun

Retro Rath's Review Score | 8/10