It's all very pacy, with the overly straightforward plotting dimmed but not obscured by the hi-tech effects.
Comment
02/09/06
Licence to Kill (1989)
71
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:34
Fresh:24
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.9/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 14 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis: James Bond (Timothy Dalton) returns with a vengeance in LICENCE TO KILL. Having just witnessed his best friend's wedding, Bond is shocked when he learns that ruthless drug runner Franz Sanchez... [More]
Starring: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Anthony Zerbe
Director: John Glen
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Reviews for Licence to Kill
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.
10/13/08
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.
10/13/08
No review available.
07/01/04
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.
08/26/09
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.
05/20/03
A cameo by Wayne Newton pushes the film into full-on kitsch, and many feared the series was dead after Licence's poor showing.
02/15/07
Both the toughest Bond movie ever and the most entertaining Bond movie ever. A rare entry in the series where the danger seems real.
10/14/05
You won't be disappointed.
01/01/00
...it often feels more like a typical '80s actioner than a bona fide James Bond adventure...
10/25/08
A well-produced slick high-octane action thriller that remains escapist and as entertaining as possible throughout.
02/16/09
You may find yourself shaken -- not stirred -- by the screenwriting cruelty and cynicism behind the 16th Bond.
01/01/00
Top CriticNo review available.
07/03/05
Dalton plays a straight-faced, humorless, no-nonsense Bond -- all guns and no play -- and it makes for a very dull time.
01/01/00
Top CriticLicence to Kill may be taut and gripping, but it's not traditional Bond, and that, as much as any other reason, may explain the public's rejection of this reasonably well-constructed picture.
01/01/00
Top CriticDalton brought a seriousness back to the films that somehow got lost in a lot of silliness along the way.
11/21/03
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.
10/13/08
Top CriticWorst Bond of all time
02/19/03
A sign that the Bond series is improving.
01/01/00
Latest News for Licence to Kill
November 07, 2008:
Bonding with Bond, Day 18: Licence to Kill
Community Manager RT-Ryan has never seen a single James Bond film, except for 2006's Casino Royale. To rectify the situation, he decides to watch every Bond film and write... More...
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