Nobody Reviews It Better: The Living Daylights (1987)

At last, Moore-Bond has been relieved of his duties! Now, in an effort not to sound unduly harsh of Sir Sleeze, we should note that not all of his 007 films were as bland as the last few; some, like The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, were actually quite good, and to some degree justified his overlong tenure. But when he was boring, nobody did it better. Or worse, rather. Nevertheless, it's about time we moved on to the short, but somewhat underappreciated legacy of Timothy Dalton. For being such a champ and withering most of the Moore-Bonds, Chicken-Man has first dibs on the refreshing The Living Daylights. Thrasher will check in later with Dalton's second, and regrettably final, film.

After the Moore-Bond marathon, I have never looked upon Timothy Dalton more favorably. First impressions, though, were a bit rougher than they ought to be; Dalton's first "Bond. James Bond," seemed more like how one would address a commanding officer than handle a self-introduction to a beautiful woman. But the gritty push-back against the goofy Moore-Bond style was thankfully not overdone as Daniel Craig's was/is. We see this firsthand in Bond's refusal to shoot a sniper because she is an amateur (and a woman).When told that this might have consequences for his job security, Bond is ready and willing to toss away a job that would require him to do things he felt were wrong. Unlike Craig, the grittiness of the Dalton-Bond doesn't mean being without emotion. In fact, he can be downright sentimental.

One of my favorite parts in this movie is seeing something we might not typically associate with Bond: the act of courtship. After helping the celloist sniper escape from the Soviet's reach, he takes her on a date in Vienna. First he buys her a new dress and they attend the opera. They go to a carnival-like atmosphere, where Bond uses his marksmanship skills to win her a very large stuffed animal. They get caught smooching at the end of their Ferris Wheel ride. "You want to go around again?" asks the conductor. It really is quite cute. I hope one can understand how refreshing this is to me, as Moore-Bond seemed to have less emotional attachment to his conquests than I imagine the typical John does with his ladies of the night. This actually seemed romantic.

As for the other elements of the movie, they seemed to be done quite well. The plot is a bit hard to follow, but doesn't suffer from the implausibility of the outlandish Moore films. The villain is an arms dealer/drug trafficker who fancies himself as an expert warfare strategist and is played by Joe Don Baker (who, interestingly enough, also plays CIA agent Jack Wade in Goldeneye and Tommorow Never Dies, which means he's in more Bond movies than Timothy Dalton!). He finds himself in a jam when the Russians cancel their arms deal since he has the money tied up in trying to profit from heroin trade. He is in league with a rogue KGB agent who falsely defected to the British, only to be "recaptured" by another rogue KGB agent in a plot made to look like the Russians tried to reclaim him. I'm still trying to figure it out.

The most confusing part is how Bond allies himself with General Pushkin, a Russian betrayed by the fake defector, while also allying himself with the Afghan muhajadeen against the occupying Russian army. He seems to be the inverse of Switzerland: instead of being neutral, he's on everyone's side.

The action scenes (including an ice chase and a guerrilla attack on the Russians) are good, and 007 Legends 2 could easily use a scene from The Living Daylights for a bonafide mission. Overall, I'm impressed with Timothy Dalton's debut.

"Q, perchance this outfit makes me look like a doofus."