M (Dench): Accountant to Mother

edited December 2011 in Actors Posts: 555
I'm on Goldeneye in my Bondathon and I just recalled (after seeingnit again!) that, at the start of Judi Dench's tenure, the new female M was known for relying on analysts and numbers to make decisions. After her initial scenes that characterization was all but dropped and a more motherly side had developed.

It was interesting that they played the "accountant" angle when they introduced the femal M. What did you all think of this? Hunches vs. analysis? Glad they dropped it or wished they had pursued it further?

Will a new M need to have his/her own unique personality, or will it be more of a Lee/Brown shift?

Comments

  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    they try to do too much with M nowadays.... let the character be the one to hand Bond his mission, and be over with it, like Lee and Brown..... they'd occasionally pop back up in the films they were in... but not as frequently
  • HASEROT wrote:
    they try to do too much with M nowadays.... let the character be the one to hand Bond his mission, and be over with it, like Lee and Brown..... they'd occasionally pop back up in the films they were in... but not as frequently
    I agree, though her speech to Bond in Goldeneye is one of the best scenes in the film. I'm ok with her being seen as an accountant, I thought it was an interesting approach, but don't have her in more then the few scenes that all the other Ms did.
  • Posts: 366
    I also feel that they do too much with M now. It seems anytime Bond kills someone or something big happens she pops up.
  • Kananga wrote:
    I also feel that they do too much with M now. It seems anytime Bond kills someone or something big happens she pops up.

    Agreed. Watching TND now. When Paris died, Craig's Bond so would have heard about it from M:

    "how could this have happened??"
  • SAMSAM
    Posts: 107
    I loved Bernard Lee's approach ... more of a headmaster and Bond the student
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    Kananga wrote:
    I also feel that they do too much with M now. It seems anytime Bond kills someone or something big happens she pops up.

    Agreed. Watching TND now. When Paris died, Craig's Bond so would have heard about it from M:

    "how could this have happened??"

    the best scene in that entire movie is that one.... again, IMO, classic Bond
  • Posts: 297
    It was interesting that they played the "accountant" angle when they introduced the femal M. What did you all think of this? Hunches vs. analysis? Glad they dropped it or wished they had pursued it further?

    Think they should have stuck with their accountant guns, would have given the relationship a sharper edge, more interesting than the mother hen version. Could also have kicked off a threat to close up the 00 shop entirely on grounds of ineffectiveness. There are a few lines in the GF novel that would even make that development in character with the books.
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    HASEROT wrote:
    Kananga wrote:
    I also feel that they do too much with M now. It seems anytime Bond kills someone or something big happens she pops up.

    Agreed. Watching TND now. When Paris died, Craig's Bond so would have heard about it from M:

    "how could this have happened??"

    the best scene in that entire movie is that one.... again, IMO, classic Bond

    Don't like Paris too much? That's okay, I didn't either. In fact, I've seen very few fans who did, besides my brother who only likes her for Teri Hatcher (her actress) because she played Lois in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
  • HASEROT wrote:
    Kananga wrote:
    I also feel that they do too much with M now. It seems anytime Bond kills someone or something big happens she pops up.

    Agreed. Watching TND now. When Paris died, Craig's Bond so would have heard about it from M:

    "how could this have happened??"

    the best scene in that entire movie is that one.... again, IMO, classic Bond

    Don't like Paris too much? That's okay, I didn't either. In fact, I've seen very few fans who did, besides my brother who only likes her for Teri Hatcher (her actress) because she played Lois in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

    Love Paris.

    Did I mention I'm also a big fan of Lois and Clark?

  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    But your favorite scene is when Paris dies? I usually laugh when she dies. I was never much of a fan of Lois & Clark, other than Dean Cain's acting.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    edited December 2011 Posts: 13,879
    re: M (Dench): Accountant to Mother

    Well it looks like M won't be able to barge in on Bond's mission, this time. You know, what with M too busy ducking for cover and all.
  • But your favorite scene is when Paris dies? I usually laugh when she dies. I was never much of a fan of Lois & Clark, other than Dean Cain's acting.

    It wasn't me that said it was my favorite scene.

    And hatcher nailed Lois Lane. The definitive Lois. But that is another discussion...
  • Agent007391Agent007391 Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start
    Posts: 7,854
    Okay, I got the "he said/she said/they said"s mixed up.
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