Movie #412 - Licence to Kill

Licence to Kill

1989 - Rated R - 2 hr 13 min

Director: John Glen
Starring: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Wayne Newton, Benicia Del Toro, Desmond Llewelyn, Anthony Zerbe

Thank goodness Timothy Dalton's Bond knows how to trick-drive a semi, or this movie would have ended completely differently.  Really... that's just crazy, that whole end sequence.

So Dalton's Bond... this is my first time watching this movie and I have mixed feelings.  Good plot, good action sequences, nice use of Q "in the field," and a nice range of ladies for Bond to get tangled up with. Dalton's not my favorite Bond (is he anyone's?) but he brings a certain flare to going rogue and working undercover... in a tux. Yes, Bond is about the only character to have ever combined drug-circle infiltration with a martini, but it's not all fun and games, you know?

Not a bad entry into the franchise's books, but definitely not a favorite. Not with the likes of Daniel Craig filling the icon's shoes these days. It's tough to compare.

Movie #384 - GoldenEye

GoldenEye
1995 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 10 min
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Alan Cumming, Desmond Llewelyn, Samantha Bond

Although the video game is lots of fun to play, this Bond movie was never one of my favorites.  I feel like they tried to modernize the franchise with all this tech jargon and, back then, I just got confused. I can understand the whole Sean Bean evil-doings better now that I'm older, but by now, most of their equipment's obsolete.

Alan Cumming is a highlight of the movie -- perfect as the goofy techie Russian with a bit of an attitude. And Sean Bean's a pretty good bad guy, bad enough that I didn't sit there thinking about Lord of the Rings the whole time, so that's good!

Anyway, this one's not really a favorite.  It's got some great action scenes, lots of explosions, and plenty of Bronsan-ized Bond to go around.