"Licence to Kill," which came out in 1989, has always felt like a Bond film set apart from the others. The story finds James (Timothy Dalton) acting outside of official channels after a friend's bride is killed and the friend suffers a brutal attack by a shark. Without his usual authority, he sets out to get revenge on Sanchez (Robert Davi), the drug lord responsible. The initial scenes make it clear that "Licence to Kill" takes itself more seriously and shows greater brutality than previous installments. While there are still moments that feel far-fetched, the humor characteristic of earlier Bond movies is largely missing. The violence feels surprisingly harsh compared to what’s come before. Beyond that, the usual impressive array of international locations is replaced by a more restricted setting—the Florida Keys and Mexico (where filming occurred). They manage well enough with these limited locations, but the change is hard to ignore. The female characters also fall short. Carey Lowell does okay in her role as the "Bond girl," though she isn’t on par with actresses like Lois Chiles, Luciana Paluzzi or Claudine Auger. Talisa Soto appears as Sanchez's companion and Priscilla Barnes has a brief part too. The opening action sequence is decent enough, but it doesn't stick in your mind like those from "The Living Daylights," "The Spy Who Loved Me" or "Moonraker." There’s also an underdeveloped storyline involving a cult leader, and the film feels longer than necessary at 133 minutes. However, the movie does have effective villains—it wouldn't be right to call them “good”—especially Davi and a young Benicio Del Toro, who both portray cruel and sadistic characters. Ultimately, while the lightheartedness may be gone, it’s commendable that they attempted something different. Unfortunately, the experiment didn’t entirely succeed. "Licence to Kill" did poorly in theaters and is considered one of the weaker Bond films. Nevertheless, it's an interesting entry in the series—darker and more realistic, even if it still has elements of a comic book. Dalton makes for a compelling vengeful hero, and if you stick around until the final act, it’s really exciting. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB