Box office At the
box office,
Licence to Kill grossed $156.2 million ($373.3 million in 2022 dollars) on its budget of $32 million ($78.9 million in 2022 dollars), grossing an inflation-adjusted profit of $287.2 million, making it the twelfth biggest box-office draw of the year. The film grossed a total of £7.5 million (£ million in pounds) in the United Kingdom, making it the seventh-most successful film of the year, despite the
15 certificate which cut down audience numbers. In the US and Canada, it grossed $34.6 million, making
Licence to Kill the least financially successful James Bond film in the US, when accounting for inflation. A factor suggested for the poor takings was fierce competition at the cinema, with
Licence to Kill released alongside
Lethal Weapon 2,
Ghostbusters II,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (starring former Bond
Sean Connery), and
Batman. Other large international grosses include $14.2 million in Germany, $12.4 million in France, $8.8 million in Japan, $8.7 million in the Netherlands and $8.6 million in Sweden. Despite grossing more than 4.3 times its budget,
Licence to Kill has made the lowest inflation-adjusted box-office return—as well as having the lowest profit margin—out of all 25 of the official
Bond films as of 2022. The only other
Bond movie with "Kill" in the title—
A View to a Kill, which was also directed by John Glen—has the
second-lowest inflation-adjusted return of any
Bond movie.
Contemporary reviews Derek Malcolm in
The Guardian was broadly approving of
Licence to Kill, liking the "harder edge of the earlier Bonds" that the film emulated, but wishing that "it was written and directed with a bit more flair." Writing in
The Guardians sister paper,
The Observer,
Philip French noted that "despite the playful sparkle in his eyes, Timothy Dalton's Bond is ... serious here." Overall French called
Licence to Kill "an entertaining, untaxing film". a further problem being that as "there isn't a coherent storyline to link [the stunts], they eventually become tiresome." but bemoaned the fact that "over the years the plots have become less ambitious". and in its place is a Bond that is "remarkably close both in deed and action to the
eponymous hero of
the Batman film" Overall Mars-Jones thought that: For the Canadian newspaper
The Globe and Mail, Rick Groen wrote that in
Licence to Kill "they've excised Bond from the Bond flicks; they've turned James into Jimmy, strong and silent and (roll over, Britannia) downright American", resulting in a Bond film that is "essentially Bond-less". Arnold opined that "demanding that he [Dalton] play Bond's wrathfulness in a transparently seething and hotheaded manner" and that
Licence to Kill "retains its familiar, effective mix of despicably powerful villains, suspiciously tantalizing women and ever-wilder special effects",
Jack Kroll, writing in
Newsweek, described
Licence to Kill as "a pure, rousingly entertaining action movie". Kroll was mixed in his appraisal of Dalton, calling him "a fine actor who hasn't yet stamped Bond with his own personality", Corliss found Dalton "misused" in the film, adding that "for every plausible reason, he looks as bored in his second Bond film as Sean Connery did in
his sixth."
Tom Hibbert of
Empire gives the film only two of a possible five stars, observing that "Dalton ... is really quite hopeless". Hibbert concluded that "he may look the part, but Timothy Dalton fails the boots, the scuba gear, or the automobiles left him by
Moore and Connery." 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." 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 ... 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". In October 2008,
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". Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film,
Esquires Bob Sassone urged readers to give it a second look.
High-Def Digest awarded it four out of five stars when re-released on
Blu-ray. British
GQ considered it the most underrated in the series, thinking the change in tone caused upset among fans.
Digital Spy called Dalton the best Bond of the six actors, praising his depth, terming
Licence to Kill a "violently enjoyable 007 detour". 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."" 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 Kills narrative bogs down." 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." John Glen has said
Licence to Kill "is among my best Bond films, if not the best". ==Appearances in other media==