Editing Licence to Kill (section)

===Retrospective reviews===
Opinion on ''Licence to Kill'' has changed with the passing of time: some reviews are still mixed, though film review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] lists the film with a positive 80% rating from 62 reviews with the consensus stating that "''Licence to Kill'' is darker than many of the other Bond entries, with Timothy Dalton playing the character with intensity, but it still has some solid chases and fight scenes."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/licence_to_kill/ |title=''Licence to Kill'' |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=30 October 2012 |archive-date=23 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023113139/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/licence_to_kill/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Tom Hibbert]] of ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' gives the film only two of a possible five stars, observing that "Dalton&nbsp;... is really quite hopeless".<ref name="Hibbert">{{cite web |url=https://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132179 |title=Licence to Kill |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]] |first=Tom |last=Hibbert |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-date=20 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020211212/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132179 |url-status=live }}</ref> Hibbert concluded that "he may look the part, but Timothy Dalton fails the boots, the scuba gear, or the automobiles left him by [[Roger Moore|Moore]] and Connery."<ref name="Hibbert"/> In 2006, [[IGN]] ranked ''Licence to Kill'' fifteenth out of the then 21 Bond films, claiming it is "too grim and had strayed too far from the Bond formula."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/746/746573p1.html |title=James Bond's Top 20 |website=IGN |date=17 November 2006 |access-date=23 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090305105945/http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/746/746573p1.html |archive-date=5 March 2009}}</ref> Desmond Llewelyn himself said in his last interview in 1999, the movie "lost all its fantasy...[it]  was a very good film, it wasn't a Bond film."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.follyfoot-tv.co.uk/jott/des_inter/des_interveiw.htm |title=Llewelyn's last interview (with reference to ''Follyfoot'' and ''Live and Let Die'') |publisher=Follyfoot-tv.co.uk |date=19 December 1999 |access-date=19 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217053521/http://www.follyfoot-tv.co.uk/jott/des_inter/des_interveiw.htm |archive-date=17 February 2012 }}</ref>

Norman Wilner of [[MSN]] considered ''Licence to Kill'' the second worst Bond film, above only ''[[A View to a Kill]]'', but defended Dalton, saying he "got a raw deal. The actor who could have been the definitive 007&nbsp;... had the bad luck to inherit the role just as the series was at its weakest, struggling to cope with its general creative decline and the end of the [[Cold War]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://movies.sympatico.msn.ca/features/ArticleNormanWilner.aspx?cp-documentid=436189 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119210839/http://movies.sympatico.msn.ca/features/ArticleNormanWilner.aspx?cp-documentid=436189 |archive-date=19 January 2008 |title=Rating the Spy Game |publisher=[[MSN]] |author=Norman Wilner |access-date=23 August 2011}}</ref> In October 2008, ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'' re-issued a review of ''Licence to Kill'' and also thought that Dalton was unfortunate, saying: "one has to feel for Dalton, who was never given a fair shake by either of the films in which he appeared".<ref>{{cite web |last=Lee Davies |first=Adam |title=''Licence to Kill'' revisited |url=https://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/5997/licence-to-kill-revisited.html |work=[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]] |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-date=1 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110801101458/http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/5997/licence-to-kill-revisited.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film, ''Esquire''{{'}}s Bob Sassone urged readers to give it a second look.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Bob|last=Sassone|title=The Most Underrated Bond Movie|url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a29387/license-to-kill-most-underrated-bond-movie/|magazine=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]|date=July 14, 2014|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-date=18 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118012210/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a29387/license-to-kill-most-underrated-bond-movie/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''High-Def Digest'' awarded it four out of five stars when re-released on [[Blu-ray]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Joshua|last=Zyber|url=https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8289/bond50_licencetokill.html|title=Bond 50: Licence To Kill|website=High-Def Digest|date=December 10, 2012|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-date=3 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103223505/https://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8289/bond50_licencetokill.html|url-status=live}}</ref> British ''[[GQ]]'' considered it the most underrated in the series, thinking the change in tone caused upset among fans.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=David |date=2015-09-11 |title=The GQ Guide to James Bond: Licence to Kill |url=https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/licence-to-kill-james-bond-guide |access-date=2022-09-22 |website=British [[GQ]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=22 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922143025/https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/licence-to-kill-james-bond-guide |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Digital Spy]] called Dalton the best Bond of the six actors, praising his depth,<ref>Hugh Armitage and Morgan Jeffery, "James Bond actors ranked: Who wore the tux best?" [[Digital Spy]], 2017</ref> terming ''Licence to Kill'' a "violently enjoyable 007 detour".<ref>{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Simon |title=Which Bond movie is best? The definitive 007 film ranking – from awful to awesome |publisher=Digital Spy |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/g24653/bond-movies-films-007-ranked-worst-best/?slide=13 |date=27 October 2018 |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508013331/https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/g24653/bond-movies-films-007-ranked-worst-best/?slide=13 |url-status=live }}</ref> Den of Geek writer Max Williams described the finished work as "..about as good as the series can get..", praising Dalton for delivering "his vision of Bond, perfectly.""<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Max |title=License to Kill: The Darkest James Bond Movie |url=https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/license-to-kill-the-darkest-james-bond-movie/ |work=[[Den of Geek]] |access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref>

Some critics, such as [[James Berardinelli]], saw a fundamental weakness in the film: the "overemphasis on story may be a mistake, because there are times when ''Licence to Kill''{{'}}s narrative bogs down."<ref name="Berardinelli">{{cite web |url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/l/licence.html |first=James |last=Berardinelli |author-link=James Berardinelli |title=''Licence to Kill'' |publisher=[[ReelViews]] |year=1996 |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508013335/https://preview.reelviews.net/movies/l/licence.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Berardinelli gave the film three out of a possible four stars, adding "''Licence 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."<ref name="Berardinelli"/> [[Raymond Benson]], the author of nine Bond novels, said of the film: "It boggles my mind that ''Licence to Kill'' is so controversial. There's really more of a true Ian Fleming story in that script than in most of the post-60s Bond movies."<ref>{{cite web |last=Cox |first=John |title=The Raymond Benson CBn Interview (Part I) |url=http://commanderbond.net/2312/the-raymond-benson-cbn-interview-part-i.html |work=The Raymond Benson CBn Interview |date=31 March 2004 |publisher=CommanderBond.net |access-date=23 August 2011 |archive-date=12 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712073446/http://commanderbond.net/2312/the-raymond-benson-cbn-interview-part-i.html |url-status=live }}</ref> John Glen has said ''Licence to Kill'' "is among my best Bond films, if not the best".<ref name="documentary"/> "I call Timothy Dalton the father of Daniel Craig", Davi admitted years later. "The years of Roger Moore were delicious...But to take Bond into the era when action films were hard and real… Timothy brought that intensity and darkness as an actor...Like Fleming said, Bond’s not necessarily a good guy. Timothy gave Bond that edge.”<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/bond-broke-bad-drug-crazed-cold-blooded-licence-kill-pushed/|title = When Bond broke bad: how the drug-crazed, cold-blooded Licence To Kill pushed 007 too far|newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|date = 10 June 2019|last1 = Fordy|first1 = Tom}}</ref>