ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

shawdakota 11118084In Licensed to Kill there is a reoccurring theme that suggests that gay man need to be punished for being gay "because it says so in the bible". Jeffery Swinford tells Arthur Dong that what is written in the bible is morally right and has been drilled into their heads from a young age so they carry these beliefs with them through their lives. Jeffery Swinford refers to a specific quote from the bible, taken from Leviticus, to justify his actions. The quote states that a man whom has sexual relations with another man, as he would with a woman, should be put to death, which, in Jeffery Swinford's eyes, tells him that he did the right thing by killing a gay man. Jeffery Swinford was using extreme homonegativity to express his personal values. However, through out the whole movie, the many quotes about love in the bible are never mentioned. Never do any of the people in the movie quote any verses from the bible that focus on acceptance of others and fair treatment. The focus is instead on the quotes that put people who are different to death, thus Jeffery Swinford is being a "buffet Christian" in the sense that he is picking and choosing what he wants to believe in the bible and what parts he would rather disregard so that scripture acts in his favor. According to the bible, idolatry, adultery, murder, slander are all things gravely contrary to the love we owe God and, because of Him, our neighbor. By killing a man, Jeffery Swinford has committed a moral sin and, according to the bible, "suffered spiritual death". If Jeffery Swinford were actually "living by the bible" he would never put himself at risk of spiritual death and separating himself from god by committing murder.

dap315 11107951 Arthur Dong's documentary License to Kill offers the interested viewer an excellent opportunity to be informed about both the nature and motivations behind hate crimes which target sexual minorities -specifically gay men. Throughout the film, Dong introduces us to several convicted perpetrators of hate crime. The criminals presented are all male, and have been convicted with murder. The victims of all but one individual interviewed were gay males. The motivations behind these vicious hate crimes are varied, but a significant proportion of the criminals involved attempted to mitigate their actions by claiming some religious significance. This religious attribution is evident of "Old school homonegativity". Old school homonegativity states that negative actions taken against gay men and lesbian women are the result of religious beliefs, myths, or a strict adherence to perceived normality. Thus, these may be seen as chief motivations in the perpetuation of these anti-gay hate crimes. Many of the men Dong spoke with indicated that they saw gay men as weak and therefore, easy targets. According to theories concerned with hegemonic masculinity, the masculinity of gay men is seen as being on par with femininity and a destabilizing force against which dominant masculinity aggresses. The perception of gay men as weak and easy targets is likely an external expression of this aggressive attitude taken on by those who wish to reinforce -consciously or unconsciously- the socially dominant idea of masculinity while subverting those viewpoints which seek to challenge it. Dong's film highlights the negative effects of ignorance and the devastating outcomes which can result. I would recommend this film to anyone wishing to gain knowledge related to gay hate crime as well as those wishing to understand the social ramifications of hate crime in general.

jroygillis The movie contains some fascinating interviews with men convicted of sexual orientation based hate crime murders. The director details the nature of their offenses and probes the motivations for their crimes. While some of the descriptions of the crimes are horrific, and the lack of remorse for their actions and lack of empathy for their victims expressed by some of the perpetrators is disturbing, the movie is engaging and revealing. The central theme of the movie as expressed in it title "Licensed to Kill" is well-developed throughout the course of the film as various individuals express their rationale as to why they believed it was "okay" to kill gay men. The film provides interesting insights into the motivations for sexual orientation bias crimes, and would be particularly useful for educational activities and classroom study.

scribe This is a very intense film. It shows us killers up close and personal. Some of them show no remorse at all. Others show some, but all feel "disconnected" from their crimes. Most of them hate homosexuals, and that gives them the license to kill them without guilt or remorse. It makes you think twice about the morality of the Christian Right and other conservative organizations whose barrage of hatred against Gays has helped soothe the conscience of these killers. Not for the squeamish. It features gruesome crime scene footage.