Judy Dench's final development as M is the key to understanding the "new turn" in the Bond genre

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2014)

I really liked the movie! M's latest and final appearance in the Bond series contains an interesting character development, which is perhaps telling in regards to the "new turn" of the genre. Ultimately, M's preference for systematic reasoning over individual appreciation leads to her own demise. Of course, being under such pressures, cannot go without development. With her "HQ position", remote from direct and critical action, she represents the "blind judgement call". More precise, a decision made (for the sake of control), under poor sight on what is really going on in the heat of the action (despite all technology there is). From nothing more then a radio transmission, she overrides field agent Eve's concern and orders "the shot". In these moments she is hopelessly limited in her capabilities and falls back on the logic of calculation and paper balance making of "gain and loss". This is most apparent in the two "top rats" that fall under her direct responsibility: Agent Silva, exchanged for the sake of six other agents, and Bond, exchanged for the sake of a list containing the identity of numerous agents (as if she is exchanging chess pieces). Her actions lead to a brilliant agent (Silva) turning rogue and another brilliant agent (Bond) almost dead. As Bond reasons post hoc on her actions: "You should have trusted me to finish the job."
By now, a seemingly defiant M is actually reconsidering her actions thus far. Against systematic recommendation, she puts Bond back in the field. In a public speech she elaborates on how advanced organization and the development of technology has not made the world more transparent, but more opaque, stressing the importance of her organization - and the direct and critical action her agents are engaged with - within a larger system which has, by now, grown impatient of her existence. But eventually it takes a poem by Tennyson and an assassination attempt on her life, for her to fully realize her over-reliance on calculation and a system that was bound to fail in the face of reality. At this point, although pivotal in her character development, it is already too late and her fate is sealed: she is already on the run and will most likely die in the end for her "sins". This is best expressed in a moment of humor where Bond grows tired of M's complaining and tries to threaten M with pushing the button that would eject the front passenger seat along with M in it. She is hardly impressed by it, disregarding the fancy technology entirely and lashes out, denying her human frailty one last time: "Go ahead, eject me, see if I care." But, in my opinion, her individual transformation is probably best expressed in her symbolic and visually quite stunning voyage into "the heart of the land" (Scotland highlands), where she finally dies.