The Living Daylights (1987)

User Review

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  Barneyonmovies

  7 / 10

  WHAT I LIKED: It was clear towards the end of Moore's tenure as Bond that John Glen and the folks at Eon Productions were trying to bring us into Bond's character by placing him in more difficult scenarios, and in order to up the anti and add some grit after Moore departed they brought in Timothy Dalton. In place of Connery's out-of-place smirk and Moore's charming raised eyebrow, Dalton wears an expression of constant determination, and that rugged resolve makes him a fairly magnetic screen presence from the off. His comedic lines generally consist of slightly agitated jabs at assistants who get in the way of his mission, and that snappiness and valour extends to the way he fights. It's that which really makes any moments of tenderness in which he lets his guard down all the more engaging, and ultimately it's that committed performance that keeps you hooked throughout.
  
  WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The only issue with 'The Living Daylights,' is that Bond's motives don't always live up to Dalton's determination. On the one hand the plot is fairly confusing in places so the reasoning behind his actions isn't always clear, but mostly there just seems to be no justification for the level of intensity with which Bond desperately attacks everything. That's not helped by a fairly lacklustre set of villains and a romantic interest who (whilst intriguing) never seems to matter all that much to him.
  
  VERDICT: Dalton adds some grit to the role of James Bond in 'The Living Daylights,' though the power is lost a little by a plot where his motivations don't match his resolve.

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