Licence to Kill was the fifth and final Bond film directed by John Glen and the last to feature Robert Brown as M and Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny.

It was also the last to feature the work of screenwriter Richard Maibaum, title designer Maurice Binder and producer Albert R. Broccoli, who all died in the following years.

Although the plot is largely original, it contains elements of the Fleming novel Live and Let Die and the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity", interwoven with a sabotage premise influenced by Akira Kurosawa's film Yojimbo.

Bond tries to assassinate Sanchez but is stopped by two Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau officers, who take him to an abandoned warehouse to meet an MI6 agent.

Bond starts a fire in the laboratory but is captured again and placed on the conveyor belt that drops the cocaine bricks into a large industrial grinder.

Shortly after The Living Daylights was released, producer Albert R. Broccoli and writers Michael G. Wilson and Richard Maibaum started discussing the sequel.

[8] Wilson also wrote two plot outlines about a drug lord in the Golden Triangle before the plans fell through because of Broccoli's concerns that the Chinese government would censor the script.

[12] Although both the main plot and title of Licence to Kill owe nothing to any of the Fleming novels, there are elements from the books that are used in the storyline, including a number of aspects of the short story "The Hildebrand Rarity", such as the character Milton Krest.

[11] The United Artists press kits referred to the film's background as being "Torn straight from the headlines of today's newspapers"[17] and the backdrop of Panama was connected to "the Medellín Cartel in Colombia and corruption of government officials in Mexico thrown in for good measure.

"[18] This use of the cocaine-smuggling backdrop put Licence to Kill alongside other cinema blockbusters, such as the 1987 films Lethal Weapon, Beverly Hills Cop II and RoboCop, and Bond was seen to be "poaching on their turf" with the drug-related revenge story.

After Davi read Casino Royale for preparation, he decided to turn Sanchez into a "mirror image" of James Bond, based on Ian Fleming's descriptions of Le Chiffre.

Up-and-coming actor Benicio del Toro was chosen to play Sanchez's henchman, Dario, for being "laid back while menacing in a quirky sort of way", according to Glen.

[23]Wayne Newton got the role of Professor Joe Butcher after sending a letter to the producers expressing interest in a cameo because he always wanted to be in a Bond film.

[24] John Rhys-Davies claimed he was asked to reprise his role from the previous film as General Pushkin in a cameo appearance, but declined since he felt the character was not necessary to the plot.

[22] The aquatic battle between Bond and the henchmen required two separate units, a surface one led by Arthur Wooster which used Dalton himself, and an underwater one which involved experienced divers.

[13] For the climactic tanker chase, the producers used an entire section of Mexican Federal Highway 2D in La Rumorosa, Baja California, which had been closed for safety reasons.

[52] 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.

[citation needed] 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.

[55] Ian Christie in the Daily Express excoriated the film, saying that the plot was "absurd but fundamentally dull",[56] a further problem being that as "there isn't a coherent storyline to link [the stunts], they eventually become tiresome.

[57]David Robinson, writing in The Times, observed that Licence to Kill "will probably neither disappoint nor surprise the great, faithful audience",[58] but bemoaned the fact that "over the years the plots have become less ambitious".

Adam Mars-Jones of The Independent gave the film a mixed review, pointing out that it took out some of the more dated ideas from the Fleming novels, such as imperialism; he wrote that the writers were "trying in effect to reproduce the recipe while leaving out ingredients that would now seem distasteful".

[60] Overall Mars-Jones thought that: James Bond is more like a low-tar cigarette than anything else—less stimulating than the throat-curdling gaspers of yesteryear, but still naggingly implicated in unhealthiness, a feeble bad habit without the kick of a vice.

[61] Gary Arnold of The Washington Times wrote that a number of factors "fail to prevent the finished product from jamming and misfiring with disillusioning frequency".

"[62] The critic for The New York Times, Caryn James, thought Dalton was "the first James Bond with angst, a moody spy for the fin de siecle",[63] and that Licence to Kill "retains its familiar, effective mix of despicably powerful villains, suspiciously tantalizing women and ever-wilder special effects",[63] but was impressed that "Dalton's glowering presence adds a darker tone".

"[63] Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 31⁄2 stars out of 4, saying "the stunts all look convincing, and the effect of the closing sequence is exhilarating ... Licence to Kill is one of the best of the recent Bonds.

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".

[75] Digital Spy called Dalton the best Bond of the six actors, praising his depth,[76] terming Licence to Kill a "violently enjoyable 007 detour".

[77] 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.

""[78] 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.

[85] The 2012 video game 007 Legends features a level based on Licence to Kill with Carey Lowell reprising her role by providing the voice for the Pam Bouvier character.