Jump to content
  • entries
    1,919
  • comments
    16,140
  • views
    593,646

One thing about Skyfall that bugged me


Bfahome

1,504 views

:alert: !SPLR ALRT! :alert:

 

 

 

I'm not really that into Bond, but I liked Skyfall back when I saw it.

 

One thing that annoyed me, though was that they actually killed M. Granted, I have no emotional attachment to the character as I suspect some Bond followers might, but it seemed like they had it set up perfectly, plot-wise, for them to fake her death. There was the entire beginning with Bond "dying" but not really dead, his obituary in the paper, and then coming back.

 

Heck, when M died, they even brought up the obituary thing again. All my Trope senses were screaming "Chekhov's Gun! Chekhov's Gun!" because it had come up earlier.

 

I understand that Judi Dench couldn't exactly be M forever, but they could've at least had an after-credits scene of her walking up to Bond on the street and casually saying hello or something. As-is I feel like it ended up leaving a big red herring at the beginning.

 

But maybe it's just because I'm used to looking for things like that.

 

 

5 Comments


Recommended Comments

 

It needs to be considered that Judi Dench has been in this role since 1995, and that it was about time for her to pass the torch to someone else. I think it was to show that, in a sense, the bad guy did sorta win in that he accomplished what he set out to do (taking down the one who "betrayed" him). Silva's definitely a more sympathetic villain than what we usually see in the James Bond series.

 

Link to comment

It needs to be considered that Judi Dench has been in this role since 1995, and that it was about time for her to pass the torch to someone else. I think it was to show that, in a sense, the bad guy did sorta win in that he accomplished what he set out to do (taking down the one who "betrayed" him). Silva's definitely a more sympathetic villain than what we usually see in the James Bond series.

 

 

 

I know she needed to be replaced, but I felt it could've just as easily been done without her dying, given what was established at the beginning.

 

Also, I don't think anyone really "won" in the end. Yeah, Silva ended up causing M's death, but given his reaction to her injury and his massive issues, I don't think he simply wanted her dead. He wanted some sort of perverse reconciliation and closure, hence why he wanted her to end it for both of them.

 

I guess it works as an "everyone loses" ending, but it just seems like it left open an enormous possibility that was never realized.

 

Link to comment

The only thing that bothered me about it is that it's GoldenEye with Daniel Craig.

 

(no but seriously, great movie, but soooo many parallels to GoldenEye).

Link to comment

 

In a way, Bond surviving in the beginning of the film could be considered a way of setting the audience into a false sense of security. As you said, you expected the beginning scene to be a Chekhov's Gun for M's death and look how that turned out. Your expectations were skewed and M remains firmly dead despite your theories, adding a greater weight to the whole situation than if you had seen it coming. There's also the fact there really would have been no point in making it so she survived. If Bond had seen her he would have learnt nothing. Dame Judi Dench had been starring as M for long enough it was fair of her to bow out with grace and so leaving her alive would have given cause for fans to demand her back.

 

Now, in terms of the actual plot, given how dramatic her death scene was I think it would have cheapened the entire thing if the film suddenly said "Aha, whoops! Looks like we made you all look like fools because here she is!". M had received a pretty brutal wound and had lost enough blood to merit her dying. Given the seriousness of the situation, she had no way to plan a faking of her death and Bond had no reason to be as emotionally torn up as he had been in the church when he held her as she died. If she was faking it, he wouldn't have been as upset, given the only person watching was the groundskeeper who wouldn't have been the least bit interested in revealing her survival.

 

Also, let's not forget how Bond made everyone believe he had died. He took a bullet to the chest and fell off a speeding train, falling completely out of everyone's sight. M died quite slowly whilst walking to a church, with both Bond and the farmer close by (And Silva, of course).

 

Link to comment

 

I'm not saying I was bothered by the characters' actions in-universe, I'm saying I think the writers had a chance to go somewhere they didn't.

 

I don't think the lesson the characters took away at the end was connected to M's death, but rather the fact that the threats facing them were no longer from nations or other established groups, but could be anywhere, which is why they still needed spies.

 

Also, maybe I don't think the same way you do, but having her die, intentionally leaving clues to suggest she might've faked it, then turning around and saying "nope, just kidding, she's dead" doesn't add any weight to me. If anything, it takes away weight. If, for instance, they had established that she was going to try to fake her own death, and then something went wrong and she actually died, then that would've added weight. I feel like if it was an intentional misdirection then it was poorly done.

 

Link to comment
Guest
Add a comment...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...