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Licence To Kill

Licence To Kill (1989)

tomatometer

74

Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 10

License to Kill is a sharp action picture -- it's darker than many of the other entries, with Timothy Dalton playing Bond with intensity -- but it still has some solid chases and fight scenes.

56

Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 4

License to Kill is a sharp action picture -- it's darker than many of the other entries, with Timothy Dalton playing Bond with intensity -- but it still has some solid chases and fight scenes.

audience

56

liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 62,421

My Rating

Movie Info

For his second outing as James Bond, Timothy Dalton is working on his own rather than on behalf of the British Secret Service in this follow-up to The Living Daylights). When his American friend Felix Leiter ({$David Hedison), an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is seriously injured by drug dealer Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi), 007 is out for blood. There is precious little time for the usual Bondian quippery and campiness, resulting in a marked increase in bloodletting (including the

R,

Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

Michael G. Wilson

Oct 22, 2002

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Critic Reviews for Licence To Kill

All Critics (38) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (11) | DVD (22)

The Bond women are pallid mannequins, and so is the misused Dalton -- a moving target in a Savile Row suit. For every plausible reason, he looks as bored in his second Bond film as Sean Connery did in his sixth.

October 13, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
Richard Corliss
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The thrills-and-spills chases are superbly orchestrated as pic spins at breakneck speed through its South Florida and Central American locations.

October 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Despite some shaky narrative continuity and muddled motivations, this manages to move pretty briskly, and the action sequences are generally well handled, especially at the climax.

October 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's all very pacy, with the overly straightforward plotting dimmed but not obscured by the hi-tech effects.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Mr. Dalton is perfectly at home as an angry Bond, and as a romantic lead and as an action hero, but he never seems to blend any two of those qualities at once.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
Caryn James
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The stunts all look convincing, and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Anchored by an engaging revenge plot, this Bond film has a great villain, a dark tone and several top-notch action set pieces.

November 2, 2012 Full Review Source: Film Geek Central
Austin Kennedy
Film Geek Central

No quips. No smirks. No innuendoes. Just raw, exposed nerves. The traits for which Dalton gets dinged are those looking past the character's admittedly alluring surface pleasures. Women aren't the only things that keep 007 awake at night, you know.

October 14, 2012 Full Review Source: Suite101.com
Nick Rogers
Suite101.com

The good: this is beautifully complicated stuff... The bad: simply, that it's not a Bond film.

September 23, 2012 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Licence to Kill gave us a grittier and more ruthless Bond. Dalton can definitely play dark, but he lacks the charisma of Connery

January 9, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

It's a strained, sexless, and overcooked film...Dalton's game, but the film is inert, perhaps unprepared to work with the new Irish Kiss direction of the series.

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

A well-produced slick high-octane action thriller that remains escapist and as entertaining as possible throughout.

February 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

...it often feels more like a typical '80s actioner than a bona fide James Bond adventure...

October 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Fast, efficient and unusually gruesome Bond. The tone is sombre, the action is ingenious and in Dalton the series finds the only actor to take 007 seriously.

October 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

Hardcore Bond fans may be dismayed by some of the changes, but no one can deny that the action scenes staged by director John Glen are some of the most spectacular of the entire series and well worth the price of admission.

October 13, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Even weak James Bond is better than the norm action flicks, and this one qualifies.

March 20, 2008
Steve Crum
Video-Reviewmaster.com

Very hardcore for Bond

February 10, 2008
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

A cameo by Wayne Newton pushes the film into full-on kitsch, and many feared the series was dead after Licence's poor showing.

February 15, 2007 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
View all critic reviews (38)

Audience Reviews for Licence To Kill

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In Timothy Dalton's second and final film as James Bond, we get the best in the series since "For Your Eyes Only" and one of the most unique and interesting entries. This movie is as far from the Bond formula as the Daniel Craig films, but the difference is that audiences apparently weren't ready to give up the cheesy one-liners and bombastic thrills the series had become known for up to this point, leaving this picture with the worst attendance in the series history by a wide margin. It's unfortunate because I feel like audiences would appreciate this film more today, but the toxic word of mouth the movie received upon release has become its legacy. This is a revenge thriller that sees Bond going rogue in order to purse a personal vendetta against a drug lord that seriously injures a friend and kills his friend's wife. Timothy Dalton is better here than he was in The Living Daylight's, and although Bond doesn't have the dashing personality anymore, he has never been more ruthless. It makes the movie a little bit of a downer compared to the rest, but also one of the most driven. It's compelling from beginning to end, despite a few dry spots. The same cannot be said for the last couple of entries. Q's added role in this film is also a pleasure for fans of the series. Overall, it's one of the stronger entries in the series and seems to be a clear influence on the current Bond films.
March 13, 2009
jlewis07
Josh Lewis

Super Reviewer

This is a pretty good Bond film. It's edgy, violent, and the first to be Rated PG-13. Dalton gives a good performance, so it sucks that this was his final of two films in the role. At least he went out on a high note.

Not until Daniel Craig came around did the film get as serious as it does here. That's why I like it so much, because Bond gets almost ruthless. Granted, it's still an 80s era film, so the cheese and camp aren't 100% gone, but even then, this film gets dark, and there's an increase in the bloodletting.

Bond is on a quest for revenge, and goes off the books in order to get things done. The target is a ruthless drug lord who has seriously maimed Bond's friend American DEA Agent Felix Leiter. Robert Davi is great as the antagonist, and you really believe that he's a chilling and ruthless fellow. Benicio del Toro gets his career off to a start as a henchman, which is cool, and, despite the campiness of it, I do kinda dig seeing Wayne Newton as a huckster type of character. Carey Lowell is the primary Bond Girl, and I like her a lot, She's got this quality about her that I just really like, even if I can't properly articulate why. It's too bad she has basically gone under the radar for the most part since then.

All in all, a really fine film.
November 29, 2006
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

Licence To Kill Quotes

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    1. Franz Sanchez: Don't worry, it's only money.
    – Submitted by Joakim A (47 days ago)
    1. James Bond: In my business, you prepare for the unexpected.
    – Submitted by Joakim A (47 days ago)
    1. Franz Sanchez: Well, it's a wise gambler who knows when his luck has run out.
    – Submitted by Joakim A (47 days ago)
    1. Franz Sanchez: Our biggest problem is what to do with all the money.
    – Submitted by Joakim A (47 days ago)
    1. Franz Sanchez: <As Bond is tied up sliding on conveyer belt to cocaine shredder> When you are up to your ankles, you'll beg to tell me everything. When you are up to your knees, you'll kiss my ass to kill you!
    – Submitted by Rob M (2 months ago)
    1. Prof. Joe Butcher: Bless your heart!
    – Submitted by Rob M (2 months ago)

Discussion Forum

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