The Living Daylights (1987)

I felt an urge to bring this review out to you first. Also, The Walk review has some

grammatical errors that need fixing, but don't worry: that review will be up tomorrow.

The Living Daylights is a 007 instalment from back in the late 1980s. It is directed by John Glen and stars Timothy Dalton in his first of two outings as James Bond, Maryam D'Abo, Joe Don Baker, Jeroen Krabbe and a few others.

This particular adventure is about Bond entangled in a mystery surrounding a man named Georgi Koskov, who reveals that a man named General Pushkin has created an assassination program targeting spies - in which he is one of them. But then all of a sudden, General Koskov doesn't turn out to be the man he seems, and then all hell breaks loose and Bond becomes trapped in a web of espionage, blood money, surveillance and dealing.

This movie was trapped in an era: the era of the hangover after the campy and unrealistic Roger Moore era. The writers and directors knew that Bond needed a rethink, and they decided to go with a more gritty, realistic and complicated tone, like From Russia With Love and For Your Eyes Only did. This was a very wise decision in my opinion: it gives the series a fresh start and a chance to show their capabilities in another more serious way of showing their movies.

This makes Timothy Dalton a great choice for James Bond: he's tough, energetic, and can kick a ton of (not aloud to say), and he KILLS IT as James Bond. He has the quips, the demanding and intimidating persona and the physicality just right, and in my opinion, he is the best Bond ever.

But does this movie succeed?

Well, it does have its flaws, but overall, this is a solid attempt at the new formula.

The first half of this movie is brilliant. There is the necessary amount of exposition which complements the action scenes perfectly, characters are introduced in an interesting and tension-fuelled way, the good old globetrotting, elaborate gadgets, great banter, and a great Bond girl.

Trust me, for the first hour and five minutes of this movie, you will be on edge, however in the second half, this is where the film's momentum stops.

You then get thirty-five minutes of completely sloppy filler and pointless exposition, and I was really disappointed by the lead-up to this film's climax.

Also, John Barry's score here is very lazy and unremarkable.

Whittaker and Koskov don't really stand out much as villains, even though they are still fine.

When the climax starts, that's when the film picks up again, but this still should have had a much more interesting and unnerving build-up than the one we actually got.

So overall, The Living Daylights has a very sloppy midway point and unremarkable score, but the villains are decent and are acted very well, the action scenes are exciting to watch, the first half is a non-stop thrill ride, and the characters are investing, and for this, The Living Daylights earns a B.

Thank you very much for reading, guys. Like I said, just need to change a couple of mistakes on my The Walk review, but there is no way I am doing that at twenty-to-ten in the evening. I'll do it sometime tomorrow and get it up by then. Until then, I'm shattered, so sweet dreams to all film critics of the near future! Gooooodnight!