This review of Licence to Kill (1989) is part of a wider rewatch of the James Bond series to mark its 60th anniversary. 007 has always been my favourite movie franchise, and I wanted to see where each film ranks within the series. Please check out the main blog post for my rankings of this and the other twenty-four official films and links to the movie reviews for the rest of the franchise.
Short Review
License to Kill isn’t a film that usually comes to mind when I think about watching a James Bond movie, but actually, it’s a pretty solid entry. 007 goes up against drug kingpin Sanchez, leading to a dramatic showdown on a mountain road, complete with explosions and fire. Along the way, he navigates complex relationships with Pam and Lupe, while dealing with M, his friends being caught in the crossfire, and Q operating in the field is very entertaining. Licence to Kill is a fun watch — not quite up there with my favourites, but certainly better than The Living Daylights.
Long Review and Film Summary
Timothy Dalton returns in his second and final James Bond film, Licence to Kill. The pre-titles open in the Bahamas, with the Coast Guard noticing a plane landing. Bond, Sharkey (played by Frank McRae), and Felix (played by David Hedison) are on their way to Felix’s wedding. The Coast Guard helicopter flags them down, and they find out that Franz Sanchez (played by Robert Davi), the most powerful drug lord in Latin America, is in the area. He is someone whom Felix has been after since he left the CIA for the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). 007 and Felix get into the helicopter, as Sharkey is sent to inform Della Churchill (Felix Leiter’s soon-to-be wife, played by Priscilla Barnes) that Felix will be late.
We cut to Sanchez and his men breaking into a shack where his girlfriend is cheating on him. At the wedding, Sharkey asks Della to go around the block again, as her dad does not look impressed. The DEA, Bond and Felix land as Sanchez’s men fire at James, as they go for his Jeep. They find Lupe Lamora (Sanchez’s girlfriend, played by Talisa Soto) inside, as Sanchez escapes on a plane. They all hop on as the Coast Guard helicopter follows. James puts on the winch, and the plane lands. He grabs the tail and wraps the cable around it, pulling the plane up and dragging it over the wedding. Felix and 007 parachute into the wedding.
We move into the opening titles and song. We have the usual selection of silhouettes, women in underwear, casino boards, gunshots, targets, Kodak cameras, and film. The titles are not as good as A View to a Kill, but they are better than The Living Daylights. The song Licence to Kill, performed by Gladys Knight, is a banger—such a good song.
We open with the establishing shot of the Coast Guard boat docked at the pier. The helicopter has landed on top, and the plane is vertical against the customs building. Ed Killifer (played by Everett McGill) and Hawkins (played by Grand L. Bush) notify Sanchez he’s up on 139 felony charges with 936 years in jail. Sanchez tries to bribe them with $2 million.
Back at the wedding, Della sends Bond to get Felix to cut the cake. He finds him in his office, finishing a report. Felix lets James know that Sanchez has killed, intimidated, or bribed half the government officials from here to Chile. Ed Killifer notifies them that he’s taking Sanchez to Quantico. He is chained up in a prison van, surrounded by the press shouting questions. Two military vehicles follow. 007 is given a personalised lighter, which reads, “James. Love always, Della and Felix.”
Ed knocks out one of the prison van’s drivers as they pass a ‘Bridge Under Repair’ sign. They drive off the broken bridge railings, and the rest of the convoy stops. Scuba divers turn up to give Ed and Sanchez air. They’re taken away by a mini-sub as the Coast Guard, DEA, and police jump in.
Della throws her garter at Bond, who catches it and gets into his car. Felix tells her, “He [James] was married once,” referencing On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Felix carries Della into the bedroom, where two men with guns are waiting. Felix is knocked out from behind.
Ed and Sanchez arrive at the Wavekrest Marine Research warehouse, where they meet up with Milton Krest (Sanchez’s henchman who operates the place, played by Anthony Zerbe). Killifer gets his $2 million and a fast boat to Cuba. Felix is brought in along with a dead cow as the floor opens. We see sharks swimming around in the water as the cow is dropped in and consumed. Felix is lowered in as his leg is eaten by the shark.
The next morning, Bond is at the airport, seemingly ready to go to London, when he hears sirens. He’s told by the ticket agent that a big drug dealer has just escaped. James dashes over to Felix’s place, where he finds Della dead on the bed. He goes into Leiter’s office to discover his body in a bag, with a note saying, “He disagreed with something that eats him.” Felix comes around as James answers a call from Sharkey, and Bond asks for an ambulance. Sharkey turns up with police detective Rasmussen (played by Enrique Novi).
At the hospital, we find out that the shark has eaten Felix’s left leg. Hawkins comes in and informs 007 that Sanchez has vanished with Felix’s files. Hawkins reminds Bond that there are plenty of countries that will protect him, and getting an extradition isn’t an option.
James and Sharkey find the Wavekrest Marine Research warehouse, and he talks to Krest. 007 uses his cover as a Universal Exports employee to arrange the shipment of a Carcharodon carcharias (Great White Shark). Milton tells him they sold the sharks and now only do research to feed the third world. Bond finds the mini-sub and sees a carnation from the wedding in a pile of dirt.
Later that night, with Sharkey waiting outside, James sees them taking the sub out and enters the warehouse via a gangway under the building. He grabs the boat hook as a shark tries to attack him and pushes up the floor. 007 opens a drawer of maggots and finds it full of drugs. A warehouse guard puts a gun to his head and takes Bond’s gun off him.
James throws maggots in the guard’s face and pushes him into the drawer. Due to the commotion, another guard arrives and begins firing at James. He hooks the guard’s belt and pulls him into the electric eel tank. 007 is soon held at gunpoint by Ed. He opens the floor to the shark tank, then Sharkey opens a trapdoor under Killifer and sends him off balance. Ed tries to bargain for his life. Bond hits him as he grabs the chain over the open floor. James throws the briefcase of money at him. He lets go of the rope to catch it and falls in. The money is now floating in the water as Killifer is eaten by the shark.
The next day at the dock, 007 and Sharkey are being watched by Hawkins. Sharkey tells Bond that the Wavekrest is a marine research vessel owned by Milton Krest that collects specimens from the Cay Sal Bank. They arrange to set off an hour later, as it’s a six-hour trip from where they currently are.
In the town, James runs into Hawkins, who lets him know that the local police got a tip-off about a warehouse last time with 500 keys of Colombian pure, a couple of stiffs, and what’s left of Killifer. He tells 007 that he can’t keep covering for him – the DA wants to know what happened. Bond is told he’s in over his head and that this is where it ends. James is shown into Hemingway House and meets with M (played by Robert Brown). 007 was supposed to be in Istanbul last night and needs to leave this case to the Americans. M gives Bond a dressing down and tells him that this private vendetta could compromise the Government. He has an assignment, and M wants it done objectively and professionally. James resigns, and his Licence to Kill is revoked. 007 kicks M, attacks his guards, and escapes.
That night, aboard the Wavekrest, Krest is a drunk creep spying on Lupe before going into her room. He tells her that she has caused him lots of problems – she got Sanchez arrested and his business raided. The captain informs Milton that they’re picking something large up on the monitors, and he goes to look.
Krest says it’s just a manta ray, but we know it’s James in disguise. Bond enters the vessel via a sentinel, which is brought aboard. Bond takes down the worker and drowns him. James sneaks around the ship as guards find the worker’s body in the hyperbaric tank. 007 finds giant bricks of money, then comes across Krest’s room, but only finds Lupe inside. He questions her at knifepoint. She tells him that they are looking for him and that he should leave. When asked, she lies to Milton and says she hasn’t seen anyone.
In the morning, Clive (a diver, played by Eddie Edenfield) and a guard turn up at the boat with Sharkey, tied up and deceased. Bond shoots Clive with a harpoon gun. “This one’s for Sharkey.” Krest shoots at James as he jumps in and takes Clive’s breathing gear. They send out divers to look for 007, as the mini-sub meets up with a seaplane to swap cubes of money for cubes of drugs. Bond catches the tether and pulls the lid off the box. The Wavekrest is alerted, and they turn the camera around to see James knifing the packets of drugs. 007 is narrowly missed by a harpoon gun. Three divers fight with Bond and manage to cut his air line. He fends them off, shoots a bolt into the seaplane, and jets away as they shoot at him. James gets onto the seaplane but is noticed by one of the people on board. 007 gets inside using the back door, pulls the emergency release of the side door, and pushes the co-pilot out of the plane. Bond uses a block of money to deflect three shots from the pilot, knocks the guy out, and drops him off near the vessel as the money flies out of the plane.
That night, James goes to Felix’s house and breaks through the cordon without being noticed by the local police outside. He looks through a computer disc that was hidden in a framed picture of Della earlier in the film. It contains information on Sanchez and, most importantly, the informants. They’re all dead, except one—Pam Bouvier. 007 finds out Felix’s next meeting with her is scheduled for the night after at the Barrelhead Bar.
He turns up at the bar in a speedboat, hands the dock hand $100, and meets with Pam. The bar is full of burly blokes and sexy ladies dancing. The people at the bar look over towards them as Dario (Sanchez’s henchman, played by Benicio del Toro) and others walk in. They sit down, and a fight ensues with shots fired, heads being hit against tables, and sharks falling off the wall. Dario manages to pull a knife on James and disarms him. Bouvier knocks him out and shoots a hole in the wall as 007 goes to start the boat. Pam gets shot by Dario and falls into the speedboat as others shoot at them. She tells Bond that she’s wearing a bulletproof vest. Later on, the boat gives up and runs out of gas. James asks Bouvier for a complete rundown of Sanchez’s operation and a private flight to Isthmus City, as she used to be an army pilot. He will pay her very well. They negotiate the price and then kiss.
Back at MI5 in London, M questions why there are five typing errors on the first page of a document Moneypenny (played by Caroline Bliss) has written up; she is worried about 007. M lets her know that he thinks Bond will go after Sanchez and that he’s alerted their man in Isthmus. M leaves, and Moneypenny calls the Q Branch, but we don’t know what’s said.
Bond and Pam (posing as his executive secretary) arrive at the hotel in Isthmus City. They have booked a multi-room suite, and James tips the bellboy and manager well, cementing his depiction as a high roller. 007 hands Bouvier the money agreed upon from a big briefcase, but she wants to stay and help. Bond sends her to buy some nice clothes as he deposits the rest ($4.9 million) into the bank Sanchez owns. Pam (as Ms Kennedy) comes in with new clothes and a new haircut. James does a double-take as he asks for a line of credit ($2 million) at the casino (which Sanchez owns). Sanchez is in the lobby of the bank, showing around some Chinese investors.
From Rewatch with Love informs us about a deleted scene at the airport where Pam points out the Chinese investor is Truman-Lodge (Sanchez’s financial advisor, played by Anthony Starke). This is why the characters know who they are, and we don’t.
Up in the executive suite, Sanchez is watching Professor Joe Butcher (Sanchez’s middleman and TV evangelist, played by Wayne Newton) asking for pledges to the Olimpatec Meditation Institute to continue their research. This is how Sanchez conducts his business and communicates with people who want to buy drugs. Sanchez talks to Lupe about Krest being ripped off by someone on the boat. She tells him that she didn’t see anything.
Bond, wanting to get noticed, asks for a private table and a credit of a quarter of a million. The limits are raised, and James’ losses mount. They talk about raising the price per kilo to $22,000, which is fed to the TV presenter for “meditation chapters.” 007 asks for half a million. The Pit Boss asks Sanchez to approve a no-limit bet by the Pit Boss. They discuss his recent bank deposit.
Bond wins. Sanchez asks for Lupe to go down and be the dealer for Bond’s next round, to find out more and make sure he loses. She tells James where Sanchez is and urges him to go.
Pam is going to get drinks as 007 makes her take him to Sanchez. Once in the private area, he introduces himself to Sanchez as James Bond.
They talk about luck and Bond’s business as a problem eliminator (explaining the gun). He explains that he is temporarily unemployed and offers his services to Sanchez. They keep James’s gun and passport and tell him they’ll think about it. As he leaves, 007 notices the armoured glass and the building under construction across the street.
Back at the hotel, Bond is informed by the concierge that his uncle has arrived and is in his suite. Not knowing who it is, Pam hands James a tiny gun and pulls out one for herself. 007 rushes to the room, pushing his “uncle” Q over a chair and holding him at gunpoint. Q explains he’s on leave and has brought him some devices. These include an explosive alarm clock, bentonite toothpaste, a camera signature gun, and a laser Polaroid camera. Pam heads to the master bedroom as Bond and Q retire to the other room.
The next evening at the hotel, Sanchez holds a meeting of East and West drug dealers. He tries to pay off Pam so she will leave and take Q. As this is happening, James infiltrates the kitchen and takes some food in the elevator to blend in. He gets out on top and winches his way down the wall in front of the building. 007 listens to the conversation inside through the glass. Sanchez talks about becoming an empire, as Bond pipes out the plastic explosive toothpaste and arms the remote detonator.
Sanchez is asked by one of his investors, Kwang, who has been following James, how they can trust him. Sanchez tells him that he can see the facilities tomorrow. Outside, 007 gets into a car driven by Q and is followed to the under-construction building. Q passes the briefcase to Bond, containing a build-it-yourself sniper rifle using the camera gun. James tells Q to go back to London. The president comes into Sanchez’s office and asks why his cheque is half what it was last month. Bond also sees Pam handing a document over to Sanchez’s head of security, Hella.
James blows the window and tries to take a shot, but is knocked over by a ninja who attempts to use the gun, but its palm lock prevents him from doing so. A second ninja joins in, and they capture Bond in a net and knock him out. He wakes up and is met by Kwang (who we now know works for Hong Kong Secret Intelligence), who has orders to take Bond back one way or another. He is furious with James for getting in the way of their operation. Thallen (MI6 agent) tells them that 007 doesn’t work for MI6 anymore and that he has been told to bring Bond in. The military begin firing from a tank at the building. Bond is unconscious and tied to a table, with both Hong Kong and MI6 agents holding him there. One of the ninjas is shot. The other is asked who sent him by Sanchez, but he swallows a cyanide pill instead of answering.
James wakes up, looking terrified, at Sanchez’s luxury house. He puts on his suit from last night, which has been washed and pressed, and meets up with Sanchez at the bar. Lupe tells 007 that the Wavekrest is arriving tonight and that Krest is coming here. Lupe is dismissed, and they discuss both having had a close call the previous night. Bond tells Sanchez that he used to work for the British government and that they kept dossiers on people like him. James says they were probably informed by someone on the inside. They were expecting to be paid a large amount of cash by someone arriving in Isthmus tonight. Sanchez sends 007 to his room with Lupe, then asks his men to meet the boat later. Bond wants to escape, but Lupe insists he’ll never make it with all the guards. She causes a distraction to let James past one guard, then hops in a speedboat, apparently to go shopping. 007 holds onto the side.
Q and Pam are in his room at the hotel. Bond holds Pam down on the bed at gunpoint and wants to know why she’s working with them. She confesses that she’s with the CIA and has her reasons for being here. Sanchez has arranged to buy four Stinger missiles from the Contras, threatening to shoot down an American airliner if the DEA doesn’t lay off. Felix gave her a letter from the Attorney General, granting Heller immunity if he gets the stingers back. She tells James that Sanchez has tripled security because of him, and Hella got cold feet and called off the deal. 007 tells Pam to meet him at the Harbourmaster’s office in two hours, and for Q to bring the Rolls-Royce round to the front of the hotel.
Bond withdraws the money from the bank. Q and Pam use a pilot boat in the harbour to get aboard the Wavekrest to “bring the boat in.” Pam puts the boat into drive and runs off, as the boat goes straight through the bridge that’s being used to unload. Pam makes her way inside the boat and opens the dive hatch. James enters the Wavekrest after jumping from the pilot boat. Sanchez comes aboard to talk to Krest about the money he owes him. Meanwhile, 007 and Pam hide the cash in one of the pressure tanks.
Krest tells Sanchez about what happened with the plane (seeming to realise it sounds unbelievable) as Sanchez’s goons start to look around the boat. They find the money in the pressure tank and call Sanchez and Krest to come down and see it. Sanchez thinks Krest has been ripping him off and using his own money to pay someone to kill him. Sanchez throws Krest in with the money and turns the pressure up, hitting the pipe with a fire axe, causing Krest to explode.
Sanchez is asked, “What shall we do with the money?” His reply: “Launder it.”
Once they dock the pilot boat, Bond tells Q and Pam to take the plane to Miami—Bond will go it alone.
Back at Sanchez’s luxury house, James is woken up in his bed, and Sanchez throws him some money for the information on Krest. He puts it in Sanchez’s head that Krest might have an accomplice. Later, Lupe comes into his room and tells 007 where Sanchez is taking him tomorrow and that she wants to leave with Bond when all this is over.
Lupe visits Q and Pam at the hotel to tell them that James is in danger. They spent the night together (which Pam doesn’t look happy about), and she loves James so much. They make a plan, which sees Q sweeping the road as Bond and Sanchez’s partners leave in a convoy of two cars and a Jeep; he radios this to Pam. She gets to her plane, but Sanchez has ordered an overhaul.
At a compound, Sanchez, Hella, and Dario get into a helicopter where the stingers are waiting for them. Pam has managed to get her hands on another plane. The convoy arrives at the Olympatee Meditation Institute as Sanchez’s helicopter lands underground. Sanchez shows his partners that the drugs dissolve completely in gasoline, making them undetectable. Pam turns up at the Institute with a special surprise for Professor Joe: a big bag of cash.
In the lab, Sanchez’s henchman, Dario, seems to recognise James and sticks a gun in his back. Professor Joe and Pam talk as he shows her around. As they get to his bed, she pulls a gun, takes his keys, and locks him in.
Back at the lab, they are being shown the conversion technique to process the drugs. Sanchez sets the gasoline on fire, and 007 uses this distraction to attack Dario and throw the fire across the room, torching the place.
They manage to get hold of Bond and tie him to the conveyor they use to powderize the drugs. He tries to tell Sanchez that Heller is stealing his stingers. Dario tries to cut James’s handcuffs, so he falls to his death on the now-moving conveyor. Pam sneaks into the facility and shoots at Dario. 007 manages to push him into the spreading machine in the confusion.
Outside, Sanchez finds Heller unloading the stingers. Bond and Pam try to escape the building as it’s blowing up, with a forklift carrying Heller’s body crashing through the wall. James and Pam escape via a golf cart, as Truman is caught trying to run away by Sanchez.
While escaping, Pam takes the big bag of money from Professor Joe that she used to sneak into the Institute with. They make it to the plane. 007 jumps onto one of the tankers as Sanchez shoots at him from the car behind. He gets into the cab and throws the driver out, covered in foam from a fire extinguisher.
Another tanker on the road is told not to let Bond pass. Sanchez gets a stinger out as the tanker drivers try to pass each other. James pushes the other tanker into a wall. Sanchez shoots the stinger, as 007 uses a pile of dirt to get onto two wheels. He goes through the gap and hits the other tanker. Bond manages to crush their jeep as they shoot out some of his tyres. Pam releases sand onto them as James releases the cargo from the tanker down the mountain, taking out the third tanker. Sanchez shoots Truman to cut some “overheads,” as he’s complaining about the money being written off.
007 goes after the remaining fourth tanker, which now has Sanchez on board. He opens the valve, letting out the gas. Bond manages to get on top of the tanker as Sanchez grabs another stinger. He’s being shot at by a following car, which is now on fire and drives off the mountain road, nearly hitting Pam’s plane. James opens the tap and lets the drug-laced gasoline flow. Sanchez hits the tail of Pam’s plane with the stinger. They brake suddenly, sending 007 flying against the cab. Sanchez gets out, sees him, and goes for him with a machete, which cuts the hydraulic lines to the brakes. Pam manages to land the plane next to the tanker Bond abandoned earlier. The driver bails when he can’t stop the tanker, leaving James and Sanchez to fight it out. Sanchez pulls a knife on 007, as Bond says, “Don’t you want to know why?” He then pulls out his personalised lighter from Felix and Della, lights Sanchez on fire, and everything explodes, as Pam drives up in her tanker.
James phones Felix (who seems very upbeat for a man who lost his wife and a leg recently) from a swanky party on Sanchez’s estate, and tells him he’ll see him next week for some fishing. Lupe comes over to 007 and kisses him. Pam sees this, looks hurt, and runs off. Bond tells Lupe that she and the President will make a lovely couple, and then jumps into the pool next to Pam. Bond pulls her in, and they kiss. Q shakes his head and downs his drink. The big fish winks, and the movie ends.