HIS BAD SIDE IS A DANGEROUS PLACE TO BE.

Drug lord Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi) maims a CIA agent and kills his wife; as they were friends of James Bond’s (Timothy Dalton), he begins a personal vendetta against the criminal.

The 16th Bond flick became Dalton’s last and looks more like an American action movie, a slick but cruel film lacking any sense of humor. After all, it’s a natural path in Dalton’s era. At least this is an attempt to freshen up the series, adding a timely drug theme, and the sequence with the tank trucks is pretty exhilarating.

The villain and the girl are OK, but it’s up to Q (Desmond Llewellyn) to provide some light entertainment.

1989-U.K.-U.S. 133 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by John Glen. Song: ”Licence to Kill” (performed by Gladys Knight). Cast: Timothy Dalton (James Bond), Carey Lowell (Pam Bouvier), Robert Davi (Franz Sanchez), Talisa Soto, Anthony Zerbe, Frank McRae, Wayne Newton, Benicio del Toro, Desmond Llewellyn. 

Trivia: This is the second time David Hedison plays Felix Leiter; the first was in Live and Let Die (1973). Followed by GoldenEye (1995).