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Did M need to die in Skyfall?
This is something I have wondered about at times. I have seen some fans claim that M dying was necessary for the story being told in Skyfall (particularly the idea that she "deserved" to die or to be sacrificed due to all the mistakes she's made), and I can see that POV. On the other hand, I know some people don't care for the ending - Anthony Horowitz in particular lamented: "The villain wins. The villain sets out to kill M. The film finishes with the villain killing M. So why have I watched it?"
I personally don't care much for M dying - the development kind of turns Skyfall into a Very Special Bond Film, you know, the one we all remember as The One Where M Dies. The event gives M a bigger role in the story than the character needs (these are Bond films, not M films), and it's hard to see how either Bond or M have won the day at film's end. I also think it was unnecessary to kill off another female character for the sake of adding to Bond's man pain (this happened with Craig once already in CR).
So could Skyfall have worked without killing off M? Here's how I personally think it could have worked: M is injured and uses the opportunity to fake her death, giving her an opportunity to leave the spy game and let Mallory take over as M. This would be a symbolic "death" - M's disappearance would echo Bond's disappearance in Turkey, and the film would get a happy ending.
Sequence of events would be something like:
- M is injured, bleeding out at church. MI6 agents arrive at Skyfall in helicopter. Fade to black, suggesting M has died.
- Cut to Bond on a deserted airport tarmac at dawn. Car pulls up, driven by Moneypenny, M exits. Bond says "Not many of us get to leave this cleanly," M gives bulldog statue to Bond, says goodbye. M boards a plane that flies away.
- Then cut to MI6 where we see Moneypenny in her office and Mallory in his new position. Film ends as usual.
What do you think of this idea? Would you enjoy Skyfall more if M lived? Or do you think M dying is an essential part of the story?
I personally don't care much for M dying - the development kind of turns Skyfall into a Very Special Bond Film, you know, the one we all remember as The One Where M Dies. The event gives M a bigger role in the story than the character needs (these are Bond films, not M films), and it's hard to see how either Bond or M have won the day at film's end. I also think it was unnecessary to kill off another female character for the sake of adding to Bond's man pain (this happened with Craig once already in CR).
So could Skyfall have worked without killing off M? Here's how I personally think it could have worked: M is injured and uses the opportunity to fake her death, giving her an opportunity to leave the spy game and let Mallory take over as M. This would be a symbolic "death" - M's disappearance would echo Bond's disappearance in Turkey, and the film would get a happy ending.
Sequence of events would be something like:
- M is injured, bleeding out at church. MI6 agents arrive at Skyfall in helicopter. Fade to black, suggesting M has died.
- Cut to Bond on a deserted airport tarmac at dawn. Car pulls up, driven by Moneypenny, M exits. Bond says "Not many of us get to leave this cleanly," M gives bulldog statue to Bond, says goodbye. M boards a plane that flies away.
- Then cut to MI6 where we see Moneypenny in her office and Mallory in his new position. Film ends as usual.
What do you think of this idea? Would you enjoy Skyfall more if M lived? Or do you think M dying is an essential part of the story?
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Comments
That's certainly one way of looking at it! :D
I mean,who else gets to say "I've fu**ed things up,havent I ? " in a Bond film and gets away without public outcry !!
Do you think it would have been enough if M had been willing to go to her death (as in the released film), but not died? Or is that not quite the same thing?
Sounds pretty brutal!
Well sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean she needs to die. She was retiring in the film anyway.
Unfortunately Mendes came back and wanted to mine this even further and we got one of the worst films of the series because of it, he only had one Bond film in him and to me it was a great film one of the best but it's follow up is a complete travesty.
I thought they dealt with Dench's M brilliantly, maybe the humour was a little ill advised but Judi and Daniel knocked it out the park, a real highlight of the series for me.
I understand in the community its not a popular view but SF was for me more than I could have expected it to be despite it's flaws.
Agreed.
The only thing I would have changed is Bond crying, as I've mentioned on another thread. Small peeve, but on the whole it was handled quite nicely.
@Milovy, I don't mind your alternate ending either, but as has been mentioned by others, Mendes needed/wanted his pathos, and I recall reading somewhere that M biting it was one of his preconditions for taking on SF.
There is nothing darker than death so, IMHO, it completely fits the tone and themes of the movie.
I'm biased as I love sad endings and many people do. Remember Wrath of Khan?
PS killing major characters takes guts from the screenwriter and, to me, saving M and having a happy ending would have been a bit of a cop out. There are so many movies that bottle it and go for that ending and a few classic movies that fully commit to the narative and end with a death scene. I suppose the issue with M's death is that it results in Bond's mission ending in failure but this is something that only really hits you after you see the film. Whilst watching it, the execution is so good that you are "locked in" to the scene.
Embroiled in failure and scandal after many years of fine service, events (and death) gave her the honorable exit she deserved.
Real world for the film production, controlling Judi Dench's exit from the role was very smart and very well done, right down to a passing of the torch.
PS plus Wrath of Khan used the clever trick of the Nimoy voice over right at the end to show that he was still us in our memories ( "He's not really dead. As long as we remember him.") and I always thought they should have stollen this idea in SF with Dench doing a voice over for the Tennyson poem as Bond stands on the roof.
I don't quite agree on a Dench voiceover though. I think that might have been a bit heavy handed for this kind of franchise. More 'Brando' from Supes or 'Obi Wan' from SW. It would have possibly reinforced the 'mother' trope as well.
"With pleasure, M, with pleasure" must rank among the best last lines of any Bond (another idea for a thread?)
It shows/confirms a resilient and tough side to Bond's character which would have been lost if Dench had survived.
So did I.
Too bad SPECTRE threw that in the toilet.
For me SF was way to full of daft plotholes that Mendes must have seen but never cared explaining of solving. It felt being spit in the face by a pretentious director and he f*cked the franchise a wee bit more with the next installment. If EON in their wisdom decide to return Mendes one more time I just want them to sell to Disney and we most probable get a decent return to well written and fun movies.
Bond wins, he was proven right to take Silva out of his element and change the game. M confronts the demon from her past, instead of letting others continue to be victim to him. In death M regains honor and dignity. It's fitting and done for a reason.
I guess common sense also prevailed when the US chose a certain new President who fancies alternative facts too.
That's not how the film was presented.
Sure but he failed her because she died, I would guess his job was protecting her and not getting her killed. He failed in doing that.
That's not the parting message for those films.
Yes I knew Dench was going to die due to the press leaking it but as soon as we have the meeting between Mallory & M I thought you can see where this is going.
Like CR we have big emotional climax that ends with an important death but like that we get a triumphant DC as Bond accepting his new mission from his new boss to sign it off like we the White moment and the first time DC says the line, no SF doesn't have same amount of excitement as CR's end but it's still makes me pump my fist.
Although like some have already said, I was hugely excited for that excitement to be seriously deflated with what Mendes did next.
SF allowed them to reset then SP painted the era into a wall plain and simple, where we go from there is anybody guess.