8 Most Underrated James Bond Films

Licence to Kill is another widely divisive Bond film and this is mainly due to many feeling it was too dark and brutal and this doesn't feel like a very fair criticism. This seems like another case of a franchise film being dismissed because it's 'too different from what came before. Licence to Kill isn't alone in being unfairly criticized for that - just ask the Last Jedi - and these sorts of criticisms have always been so tiresome.

A film should be judged on its own terms based on how effective it is, not how different it is and hey, given how many Bond films there are, a bit of variety is never a bad thing.

Licence to Kill is not perfect by any means, since it is too long and the Bond Girls are dire, but Dalton is terrific, the villains are fantastic, the action mostly hits the mark and as for the dark tone... it works. It definitely works. It's a different sort of Bond film, but the whole thing is a powerful, haunting and shows us a different side to Bond which had rarely been seen before.

It's not an all-time classic but it is a very, very solid Bond film indeed and it's frustrating that this still gets so much flak, especially since the dark tone is actually one of the film's greatest strengths.