A clumsy picture which outrageously suggests that in order for a Bond movie to classify as 'adult', all one has to do is throw in a few more action sequences and relish it with light smugness. Under this constrictive principle and despite its awe-inspiring stuntwork, the film never becomes the 'adult' Bond movie it would like to think it is; it doesn't even come close to being yards away from that, as a matter of fact. With the plot having Bond defected from Secret Service, the film lacks the intellectual stamina to sustain a credible narrative of its hero outstripped from his '00' prefix, it is utterly devoid of the finesse and the elegance closely associated with the Bonds, it is even deficient of the cheesy fun of the lesser Moore outings. Dalton is dismally unfaired by mediocrity in both script and direction, and even the film's soundtrack is a straight copycat of the "Die Hard" and "Lethal Weapon" movies. Dire.
Review of Licence to Kill
