MovieChat Forums > Licence to Kill (1989) Discussion > That last scene killed the movie

That last scene killed the movie

posted 8 years ago by thylacine80
4 replies | jump to latest

The film in itself was very well done, and one of the best entries in the series in my opinion.
But I feel the very last scene ruined the awesome work built towards the movie.

1- Felix Leiter is happily talkin on the phone = HE JUST LOST A LEG AND HIS WIFE WAS MURDERED !!!
He's smiling and saying that he will be "fine very soon" or something like that.
What does that mean ? Will he have a brand new leg ? Will his wife come back to life ?

It doesn't make any sence and the filmakers just wanted a "happy ending" when that's just not possible.

2- Felix says to Bond that "M is trying to reach you, he's got a job for you" = Yeah, sure... Bond just went on a vendetta, fighted with some fellow agents and resigned from MI6, and M is calling him to offer a new mission a few days later...

Of course M care for Bond, and it is obvious that Bond will be back in service in the next film... But was it really necessary to have, again, a happy ending, with a "we're all friend at the end of the day" kind of thing ???

3- Lupe Lamora kisses Bond several times = That's fine with me. She was Bond's love interest for most of the film, so it makes perfect sense they end up together.

But the filmakers felt thay have to put Bond with Pam, so Bond suddendtly decides, after kissing her, that she would make a "perfect couple with the president". Huh ???! Why ?!? Just because he was around ?
And the worst thing is that Lupe seems allright with the idea...she touches the president's hand and leave with him.

Why did they think that Lupe must be with someone ???? Agin they tried to create a happy ending with a "everyone's got a lover in the end" thing.
It's totally out of place in a violent and serious movie.

4- Pam and Bond kiss and end up together = WHY ???!
Pam is fine but they didn't even have a great chemistry as "lovers" toward the movie. She was a great FBI agent who helped Bond with guts and personality.

But why on earth do they kiss and end up together ???

5- The winking fish = No comment.
The movie was deadly, serious and dangerous. And at the end you've got that stupid scene with a giant fish smiling and winking.

What do you think ?
I was amazed that they put so many stupid things in a single scene, and I think it spoiled the rest of the film.

[–] Vesikko 8 years ago

I admit that the movie suffers for trying to eat and keep the cake. They tried to create something new but were scared to alienate the fans, that's why we have silly Q and Moneypenny, forgiving M and upbeat legless Leiter in otherwise such a dark film.
I admit that there was little
chemistry with Pam and much more with Lupe but Pam was a Good Girl and Lupe a Goldigger, so he had to go with Pam.
Overall I enjoy the ending, Patti Labelles If You Ask Me to is Great for that scene.

[–] TMC-4 8 years ago

That was the thing w/ the John Glen era in general. They (especially at the end of Roger Moore's run) would be very inconsistent tonally. It's like the case w/ Richard Lester and his take on Superman, give Glen a chance and some wiggle room, and he'll throw in a cheesy gag (e.g. the Tarzan yell and Margret Thatcher's "cameo" in Octopussy and For Your Eyes Only respectively).

Glen also seemed to do a poor job at conveying what was meant to be a very emotional moment such as the end scene in LTK w/ Felix. It's as if he just has the actors read what was on the script w/o fully understanding the emotional context of the scenario.

[–] king_cooler 8 years ago

It is out of place but the rest of the movie's too good for it to ruin it.

[–] filmklassik 8 years ago

Great point. It's a mostly great Bond movie but it suffers from poor dialogue oweing to Richard Maibaum being sidelined due to the writers' strike. It thus fell to producer (and non-writer) Michael Wilson to flesh out and dialogue Maibaum's outline.

And yeah, that final scene with a chipper Leiter on the phone with Bond is unbelievably stupid.