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Adventure, Action, Thriller 133 min PG-13
Rotten Tomatoes79%Metacritic58IMDb
James Bond is out on his own and out for revenge.
After capturing the notorious drug lord Franz Sanchez, Bond's close friend and former CIA agent Felix Leiter is left for dead and his wife is murdered. Bond goes rogue and seeks vengeance on those responsible, as he infiltrates Sanchez's organization from the inside.
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Resolved, unpretentious, bleak and plot-driven.
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Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Taste Buds's numbers.
"Licence to Kill" is unquestionably a very unusual Bond film in every conceivable way imaginable. The larger-than-life villains of the Sean Connery era with their outrageously extravagant plans to blackmail the whole world are completely gone and these elements have been replaced with a much more down to earth approach and in this instance it has resulted in the film resembling a regular crime movie, but don't fret too much. There still remains at least some instantly recognisable remnants of the beloved Bond trademarks to be found amongst all the violence and minor league swearing with some remarkably thrilling and expertly produced action sequences - especially those involving the Kenwood tankers. However, when such conventional Bond fare as this is placed alongside some of the other elements (chief bad guy Sanchez being turned into a flaming human bonfire by Bond) it does often make for extremely uncomfortable bedfellows, especially coming so soon after the long running Roger Moore era where a good deal more of the violence was a lot less graphic.
Read the whole review on TMDBThis 007 film stays true to its motif. This begins an era of "no fun" 007 films, where the wit is very minimal and every scene is whiplash brutal. However, unlike most later 007 films, this one stays true to its design. It doesn't try to "contrive" the story. Instead, there is a flow. One interesting aspect is that we see something worse than "death", as is pointed out earlier, with David Hedison getting brutal treatment in his recurring Felix role. We see the beginning of an era where evil is in charge of the world. No longer is there anyone to be trusted outside of a few men like James and Felix. There is a "darkest before the Dawn" scenario here, but it isn't "contrived" the way later 007 movies do it. There is a lot going for this one. Unfortunately, it set the style for "no fun in 007 films", which ultimately saw the writing and directing get worse and worse. But this one works. Bond is still a genuinely okay guy, and that's what always keeps 007 films going.
Read the whole review on TMDB**License to Kill transformers Bond from a goofy punchline to a vengeful unstoppable force, turning the franchise from whimsical to gritty and producing one of the best films of the series.** License to Kill marked a major shift in the franchise away from the campy, goofy, and almost family-friendly Roger Moore Bind films to something darker and more brutal. Timothy Dalton’s Bond is savage and emotional, using only his wits to track down an elusive drug lord and devising an elaborate scheme to exact revenge and cripple the entire drug enterprise. No longer are the jokes and gadgets the focus, but instead, the violence and rage of Bond and the villains he faces take center stage. Characters are eaten by sharks, crushed, exploded, and more in barbaric ways with incredible stunts and a more grounded sobering story. License to Kill finds its influence in Miami Vice and benefits from a less outrageous or fantastical story. Unfortunately, License to Kill was before its time as Brosnan’s Bond slid the franchise back to the far-fetched goofy extremes of Bond. Thankfully the Craig era returned to what Dalton began with a nuanced and volatile character in a more believable world of spies and
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“Is Timothy Dalton miscast as James Bond?”
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20 profiled raters. Loved most by The Cartographers; disliked most by The Prestige Hunters.
If you loved this film, the television, the book, the music, the game.
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