When Sean Connery was James Bond, a time many still consider the Golden Age, he was smoother than a dry martini, faster than an Aston Martin, practically able to leap from tall buildings and land in a woman's bed. His sardonic secret agent for the 1960's gave way to Roger Moore's infinitely more urbane Bond; the Moore 007 always seemed more comfortable sipping Dom Perignon than a shaken-not-stirred martini. And now Timothy Dalton promises to become the first James Bond with angst, a moody spy for the fin de siecle.
Though ''Licence to Kill'' is his second appearance as 007, Mr. Dalton is still the new James Bond, and the only element in the 27-year-old series that can offer a hint of surprise. The film retains its familiar, effective mix of despicably powerful villains, suspiciously tantalizing women and ever-wilder special effects. But Mr. Dalton's glowering presence adds a darker tone. The screenwriters Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum have accommodated this moodier Bond, and have even created a script that makes him fit for the 90's.
The story begins in Key West, Fla., where Bond and his friend, a United States Drug Enforcement Agent named Felix Leiter, take a detour on their way to Leiter's wedding. Before the title credits roll, Bond takes a short ride on top of a small plane to capture a Latin American drug lord and political tyrant named Sanchez, a topical villain who seems unmistakably modeled on Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega.
When Sanchez escapes and literally throws Bond's best friend to a shark, 007 gnashes his teeth with grief, scowls at the ineptitude of the American officials and vows to get Sanchez himself. Bond's superior, M, revokes his license to kill, an order that does nothing to slow him down. He simply moves on to Isthmus, the fictional country where Sanchez lives in a seaside mansion with all the garish furnishings drug money can buy.
The plot, of course, hardly matters, as long as it keeps Bond moving. Over the years, it has become harder for the series to keep up with all the splashy special-effects films it helped to inspire. Though ''Licence to Kill'' is more volatile than ''The Living Daylights,'' Mr. Dalton's first Bond film, it may seem tame next to hyperactive movies like ''Lethal Weapon 2.'' Here Bond faces a ninja and makes several underwater escapes. But the spectacular action is saved for the big final shootout, involving a convoy of tank trucks carrying cocaine-spiked gasoline; the possibilities for reckless driving, exploding trucks and flying bodies on a fiery, winding road are countless.
The nonviolent action includes a duel for Bond's affection, such as it is. Talisa Soto is Sanchez's disillusioned lover, Lupe Lamora, eager to betray him with just about anybody, but especially with Bond. And Carey Lowell becomes the most playful, modern Bond heroine in years as Pam Bouvier, a former Army pilot who helps to outwit Sanchez. When she and 007 meet in a dingy Bimini bar, Pam carries a gun much bigger than Bond's and seems at least as seductive and tough as he is. But in Isthmus, Bond forces her to pose as his secretary, introducing her as Miss Kennedy. ''It's Ms. Kennedy, and why can't you be my executive secretary?'' she asks, and Bond answers suavely, ''It's south of the border; it's a man's world.'' This ruse is a clever way for the writers to preserve, if only for old time's sake, some of Bond's traditional macho chauvinism, and it doesn't prevent Pam from packing a gun in her garter.
The endearing special-weapons wizard Q (Desmond Llewelyn) also arrives in Isthmus. He carries a satchel full of new toys, including an exploding alarm clock ''guaranteed never to wake up anyone who uses it.''