12 Things You Learn Rewatching Licence To Kill

2. Q Provides Some Welcome Comic Relief

It would've been easy for Licence to Kill to just exclude Q (Desmond Llewelyn) from proceedings entirely in order to ensure his status as reliable comic relief didn't upend the grittier tone the movie was shooting for.

Given the film's almost overwhelming grimness, though, Q's inclusion was an extraordinarily smart move. Unlike Q's appearance in most of Moore's movies, the silliness isn't overdone or excessive: we get to see some fun gadgets, Bond tells Q not to snore, and we get to see Q disguised as a driver.

By being less desperate to generate a laugh, the mild humour is actually more effective, and like the more serious-minded moments, feels decidedly more grounded and believable as a result.