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TIMOTHY DALTON AS JAMES BOND
Just because a film makes money doesn't mean it's an enjoyable film, especially when it's part of a franchise. Welshman Timothy Dalton took over the role in the wake of Roger Moore's final (and worst) film. Everything wrong with "A View to a Kill" had a turnaround in "The Living Daylights", Dalton's first as Bond. That respite from dismal failure lasted just the one film. "License to Kill", the lowest grossing Bond film, nearly killed the franchise. A six year hiatus would follow this one before the advent of Pierce Brosnan's stint. During that time, however, it seemed that Ian Fleming's character would not survive this latest disaster.
Technically, there was little wrong with Dalton or his performances. He, too, was handsome, athletic and versitile. He was a fan of the literary character rather than the film character and tried to bring that perspective to the screen. He was successful within the confines of the scripts. "Living Daylights" was sound albeit a complete opposite of Moore's lighter approach. Dalton was dark and intense, virtually without humor. He did much of his own stuntwork but had precious little of the personality that Connery, Lazenby and Moore had each presented. "Living Daylights" did return a sense of espionage and urgency to Bond, something that "View to a Kill" so noticably lacked.
That aura vanished with "License to Kill" which is barely recognizable as a Bond film. In this film, Bond is ostensibly assisting American CIA agent Felix Leiter (David Hedison) in his quest to apprehend a violent and demented drug dealer named Sanchez (Robert Davi). It becomes a personal vendetta when Leiter's wife is murdered and Leiter is left for dead. Bond is stripped of his license to kill, becoming a renegade agent-or, as it happens, an unofficially government-sanctioned serial killer. At the core of what went so wrong with this film is the fact that director John Glen allowed the Bond character to be over-shadowed by the villain.
Robert Davi turned in a far more convincing performance than did Dalton. He was more dynamic, more suited to his role and more believable in his delivery. The problem with such an occurance is that the film was not about him as the central character. No matter how good the actor playing the villain may be (and Davi is really really good), it's a Bond film. Bond is supposed to outshine everyone else in the cast and Dalton did not. Even though Bond triumphs, it's anti-climactic in a way-too-little-way-too-late sort of way.
Glen was also the director for "View to a Kill". Glen considers "License to Kill" his best Bond film. The people who paid for their tickets disagree. Both of those films did nothing to further the legend or the fantasy that Bond is supposed to be. The six year hiatus following "License to Kill" speaks volumes about what the money people thought about the situation. To be fair, there were legal problems surrounding "Property of a Lady" which would've been Dalton's third attempt. Despite that, this failure to captivate the built-in audience of hardcores dimmed the franchise's future considerably.
Again, this was not completely the fault of Dalton. He gave what he had to the role which is within realistic expectations. He did not write either film and was likely not consulted very often about what went on film. There were exciting stunts, beautiful women, exotic locations and wonderful photographic effects. It just didn't work the way it should've for many hardcores.
It would take something extra special to revive this franchise and that would come in the person of a very talented Irishman. Pierce Brosnan will be the subject of the next installment.
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