In the 2006 reboot Casino Royale, Craig's Bond moves from experienced secret agent to novice, portraying his early adventures as a double-0 agent. The film omits the over-the-top gadgets and lightheartedness of even the best Brosnan films and introduces a much darker tone into the franchise. The action sequences, though elaborate, are much more violent and gritty. Craig's portrayal of Bond stretches the limits of acceptable masculinity in a Bond film as he not only bleeds (something rare in previous films), but is presented with bruises and cuts that serve as visual reminders of this violence. While Craig's Bond is the most bloodied and battered in the series, he is also emotionally vulnerable, visibly shaken by his own capacity for violence. Moreover, this Bond is on display. As Funnell argues, Casino Royale emphasizes Craig's "exposed muscular torso" and muscular masculinity instead of Bond's "s.e.xuality, libido, and conquest" ("I Know" 462). Visually, Funnell argues, in recreating the Honey Ryder bikini scene from Dr. No, Craig is linked to the "iconography" of the Bond Girl, "as spectacular, pa.s.sive, and feminized" (ibid. 467). Skyfall further complicates the traditional heteros.e.xual Bond masculinity when Bond responds to Silva's s.e.xual advances with the allusions to his own history of bis.e.xual or h.o.m.os.e.xual experimentation: "What makes you think this is my first time?"

Just as the Craig films re-imagine Bond and his heroic masculinity, they also present a re-framing of M, one that works to undermine the position she established in the Brosnan films. In GoldenEye, Bond represents the old boys' Secret Service of the past and M represents a modern woman, valued for her expertise and professionalism, but a.s.sumed to be in over her head by most of the men she encounters, including Bond. In the Craig reboot, M is increasingly defined by her age, and is presented, in the words of Silva, as "an old woman." Throughout Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Skyfall implicit and explicit emphasis is placed on M's age and her inability to do her job; she occupies and conducts business from clearly domestic s.p.a.ces and a.s.sumes a more overtly maternal relationship with Bond.

When M first appears in Casino Royale, her costume suggests an alteration in her characterization. While dressed in her typical dark colored suit, her jacket is open at the chest, revealing her cleavage and a gold necklace hangs from her neck. Later, while in the Bahamas, she wears an off-white jacket and a dark brown skirt. In the visual medium of film, costuming sends powerful messages about the ident.i.ty of a character and so the differences are subtle but noticeable. M dresses more overtly "feminine" as defined within the context of the Bond films. This is reinforced by M's emotional ranting after having been called in to explain Bond's unauthorized actions: "I report to the Prime Minister and even he's smart enough not to ask me what we do." Her words suggest changes in political climate and ways of doing business, the length of her experience, and being somewhat out of touch (not knowing where Bond is currently located); her tone and volume suggest a fl.u.s.tered emotionalism unseen in the Brosnan era films.

M's long years of service are again foregrounded more pointedly in Skyfall when the government holds her responsible for losing files with the ident.i.ties of undercover NATO operatives, and Bond blames her for not trusting him to complete the job and getting shot. On her way to meet with Gareth Mallory, her eventual replacement, M remarks, "It's like being summoned to the headmaster's study." The comment, which infantilizes her, is reinforced by the image of a diminutive M walking alongside her much taller Chief of Staff. The interview with Mallory does indeed resemble a school disciplinary meeting: the taller, confident Mallory leans back in his chair; M sits forward, uneasy and nervous, both hands clutching a gla.s.s in her lap. As the conversation quickly turns to "retirement planning," the visual indicators of childlikeness, smallness, and fragility underscore the a.s.sertion of M's unfitness for duty. M herself questions her own suitability while at Skyfall Lodge, telling Bond, "I f.u.c.ked this up, didn't I?"

While M's office s.p.a.ce in the Craig era films is nearly identical to her office in the Brosnan era films, she is not as closely a.s.sociated with it, or any professional s.p.a.ce. When Bond calls M from the Miami airport in Casino Royale, she answers in her office. As she stands to take the call, demanding to know what Bond is up to, Bond hangs up abruptly, leaving M standing alone, powerless, in her office. In Skyfall, her office blows up, but the physical destruction is only the final manifestation of M's waning career and authority. When MI6 is forced to relocate to new temporary headquarters, M's departure is already foreshadowed.

M's most significant interactions with Bond take place in her home and the domestic s.p.a.ce becomes the location for her briefings with Bond. She returns home in Casino Royale to find Bond in her living room on her computer. Her response to this invasion lacks the appropriate gravitas: "You've got a b.l.o.o.d.y cheek." As she scolds him, M sounds more like a parent who has found an adult child back in the family home unannounced after having moved out. This domestic scene is repeated in Skyfall when M returns home to find Bond waiting for her in the dark. Later, in Casino Royale, when MI6 tracks Bond's computer usage, M is contacted at home where she is in bed for the night. Not only does her red nightgown further undermine her carefully constructed appearance of professionalism, this clear and consistent invasion of her professional life into her home life works to (re)situate her in the domestic sphere and emphasizes her age: while exciting events are happening, she is at home in bed with her husband.

Silva also mentions the unfitness of M in Skyfall, during his interrogation of Bond. He connects her explicitly with Mother, gleefully exposing "Mummy's" lies to Bond about his fitness for duties, "You're still clinging to your faith in that old woman when all she does is lie to you." As Silva reads off Bond's actual evaluation and his failure to meet acceptable standards, Bond sits silently, first staring off to his left, then looking at Silva. When Silva gets to "Pathological rejection of authority based on unresolved childhood trauma," the film cuts back to Bond, who looks almost shaken. Silva interprets this as evidence of M's betrayal and recklessness with the lives of her agents: "She sent you after me, knowing you're not ready, knowing you'll likely die. Mummy was very bad." While Silva considers Bond as his brother through their shared connection to M, Bond's a.s.sociation with M as a mother-figure develops across the three Craig films. As a result, Bond disregards any sudden fraternal connection to Silva.

When M finds Bond in her living room in Casino Royale, her initial scolding gives way to a strange exchange that can best be described as counseling. Her tone changes and she sits down across from Bond, after pacing the room. She talks about lost trust and how she needs s.p.a.ce from him because she's so angry. M again expresses the need to be able to trust Bond in Quantum of Solace. This conversation, when considered in relation to others she has with Bond, points towards her overtly maternal feelings for Bond. After Vesper Lynd's death, for example, Bond coldly reports to M, "The b.i.t.c.h is dead." Without comforting or coddling Bond, M makes clear the obvious truth that the betrayed and heart-broken Bond cannot see: Lynd must have tried to save his life. A similar conversation takes place in Quantum of Solace in which M's concern for Bond is more p.r.o.nounced, "You look like h.e.l.l. When is the last time you slept?" M acknowledges her understanding of Bond's desire for revenge and how it is motivating his actions. She tries to make Bond see how much Lynd loved him. M a.s.sumes the role of concerned parent as if Bond was a hurt teenager. The Bond-M relationship described by Tippins as a "headstrong adolescent and a stern hard-of-praise father" (36) has been transformed into an angry and lovesick boy and his compa.s.sionate mother.

The representation of M as mother culminates in Skyfall when Bond takes her to his childhood home. In returning to the dilapidated s.p.a.ce of memory and occupying the domestic s.p.a.ce of Bond's childhood, M allows Bond to settle the unresolved "childhood trauma" Silva mentioned. Playing this part strips M of any remaining identifiers of her professionalism. The grizzled groundskeeper Kincade mishears her t.i.tle and calls her "Emma," her t.i.tle turned into a first name, the Italianate "-a" ending further feminizing her. She surrenders completely to Bond's plans for preparing the house for battle, her own years of tactical expertise ignored in favor of the role of supporter. Even when she a.s.sists in removing dust covers, the dirt makes her cough and spit comically. Preparing baggies with gla.s.s and screws, M sits at the large dining room table, small piles of domestic materials in front of her like an arts and craft project. She looks small, almost childlike in the large chair. While Kincade and Bond use tools, fit b.o.o.by-traps, and test weapons, M's tasks seem almost quaint by comparison. When Silva's men attack, M carries a small hand gun and springs b.o.o.by-trapped baggies of gla.s.s and screws by turning on lights. When she finally does shoot, she misses completely.

M's final descent into the priest's closet, where the young Bond hid for two days after being told of his parents' death, more completely connects her with his mother. Although she has not displayed such maternal characteristics before, there remains a commonly held a.s.sumption "that [the] 'maternal instinct' will come to the fore and will perform miracles" (Welldon 18). When Silva's helicopter approaches, Bond orders Kincade and M first to the kitchen (another domestic, motherly s.p.a.ce) and then, after machine gun fire all but destroys the walls to the place he hid to mourn his dead parents, he instructs them to "Get to the chapel. Use the tunnels." Leaving Bond to fight on alone, Kincade leads M to the door of the tunnel. Unaware of the injury slowing M down, he leads the way, holding the lamp head to light the path. M stumbles, holding the support beams for balance. When they exit and see the destruction of the house, Kincade wraps his arms around the frail woman and guides her towards the chapel and her eventual death, as she has been shot in the stomach or womb.

After Silva is killed by Bond, M is not permitted a heroic, self-sacrificing death. M initiates the expected professional banter with Bond, even using his code name: "007, what took you so long?" Before she can respond to Bond's excuse, M collapses into Bond's arms. He cradles her, watching as she looks up at him and gasps out her final words, "I did one thing right." The words function as an appraisal of her success in "bringing up Bond;" no matter what other failures she leaves behind, she has raised a good Secret Agent. In the close up of Bond, only part of M's head is visible at the bottom of the screen as if she is slipping from the frame as she is slipping from life. When she dies, Bond, overcome with grief and emotion, carefully closes her eyes. He tenderly kisses her forehead, not as a lover or even a friend, but as a son. As the camera pulls back down the aisle of the chapel, Bond continues to hold her in his arms.

Dench's presence in seven Bond films, spanning both the Brosnan and Craig eras, makes her a worthy subject when examining the changing role of female characters in the Bond films. Between 1995 and 2012, Dench's M showed a marked change: from a strong, authoritative leader and representative of contemporary societal att.i.tudes of women to a frail old mother, out of place and past her prime. In death, M does not receive the t.i.tles and honors befitting her years of service and promised by Mallory. Her t.i.tle is a.s.sumed by her successor-who immediately redesigns the office to something from a private English gentlemen's club. Although her death, according to Dodds, "has played a vital role in making Bond's [and Britain's] resilience possible" (119), the only lasting legacy is the ceramic bulldog she leaves Bond in her will. Her exit from the franchise suggests a broader re-identification with att.i.tudes about women more closely a.s.sociated with the Connery era. With a man back in charge of MI6 and Moneypenny "safely" behind a desk again-or what Brabazon describes as "the women behind the man (M) behind the legend (Bond)" (490)-Skyfall does not end with the melancholic tone one might expect following the death of a major character. Rather, when Bond enters the new M's office, meets Miss Moneypenny, and accepts the Top Secret 007 file "with pleasure," the familiar sound of the Bond theme plays suggesting all is right with the world.

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