Ranking Every James Bond Opening Scene From Worst To Best
17. License To Kill
License to Kill's cold open merely gets the job done. The sequence is directly connected to the main plot of the film, and it gracefully plows through a ton of necessary expository dialogue by immediately tossing the audience into the action.
James Bond's American friend and C.I.A. Agent Felix Leiter is informed that infamous drug lord Franz Sanchez is nearby and can be arrested. Despite being on the way to his wedding, Leiter agrees to go arrest Sanchez. And 007 - Leiter's best man - accompanies him.
Sanchez is a great Bond villain, and his introduction in this sequence nicely displays the menacing and charismatic foe. Conversely, the big stunt of this opening falls flat. Bond hooking the up tail of Sanchez's plane isn't particularly exciting, and the best aspect of this set piece is its beautiful Florida Keys backdrop.
This opening manages to establish a lot of information in a short amount of time without feeling tedious. The quick pace, beautiful location, and necessary set-up makes it a fairly enjoyable opening when watching the entire film, but on its own this cold open dosen't stack up.