Nobody really questioned why (or how, for that matter) Judi Dench was able to carry over her role as James Bond's surly boss "M" when the franchise was rebooted with Casino Royale - it was presumably just seen as a good decision, and nobody bothered to follow it up because who else was suppose to play the character, really? Dench's M has felt like an integral part of the Bond franchise for a long time, then - a notion that resonated with unexpected sorrow in the recent Skyfall. What's massively interesting about Skyfall is that the movie is as much about M as it is James Bond himself (more so, perhaps), given that the main villain - played brilliantly by Javier Bardem - sets out to get revenge on her after she betrayed him long ago. And he gets his wish, as - in a sad and touching finale - M dies in Bond's arms in a little church located out in the wilderness of Scotland. "I did get one thing right," she laments, referring to her decision to reinstate 007 as an agent, before falling silent forever. Pass the tissues, please.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
