Any new James Bond — that is, any new actor in the role — brings with him a golden opportunity to take stock, make changes. And Timothy Dalton, who herewith relieves Roger Moore of duty, certainly talked a good game in advance interviews. But why, if it was deemed a good idea to talk about a return to the Bond of the books, wasn't it also deemed a good idea actually to return to him? Dalton, with his dark wolfish face (and somewhat duckish physique), is of course younger and ruggeder than late Moore, more in the early Sean Connery mode; but he is also tenser, brisker, with less personal style than Connery, less even than Moore. For the rest, it's the same half-hearted formula, of tedious chases and magical gadgets and lame wisecracks, reduced to only a quarter-hearted effort. And the worst of it is that compulsory retirement never seemed so far away. With Maryam d'Abo, Jeroen Krabbé, and Joe Don Baker; directed by John Glen. (1987) — Duncan Shepherd
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