When you subtract a great theme song by A-ha, an exciting score by John Barry, and some impressive action sequences; The Living Daylights doesn't leave much left to be desired... It's attempting to be a dark espionage thriller, a campy Bond movie, and a romance novel all in one yet it fails at all three. The political aspects of the plot are convoluted, dull, and never really develop into anything engaging. Who cares about some plot involving Russian treason, arms dealing and drugs? Yawn. Since this came out at the tail end of The Cold War it's just implied that The Russians are always the bad guys but in this day and age it seems dated. The love story between Bond and Kara takes up over half of the screen time but there isn't enough tension or chemistry between them to keep you engaged for that long. It's cute but ultimately gets boring. Joe Don Baker gives an amusing performance as Brad Whitaker and while Jeroen Krabbe effectively portrays Koskov as a slimy character; neither of them are interesting or developed enough as villains for you to really care what's going on.
Review of The Living Daylights
