This is Dench’s swan song in the role, and she ensures it is a memorable one. The relationship between Bond and M has never been this complex; it is a relationship built on mutual destruction and survival. When she dies in Bond’s arms, it is the emotional climax of the Craig era, and it works entirely because of Dench’s gravitas.
Before he becomes "M," Ralph Fiennes’ Mallory is the chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, a bureaucratic foil who wants to force M into retirement. He is stuffy, political, and seems like an antagonist. However, when the attack on MI6 happens, Mallory proves he has steel in his spine. Fiennes plays the transition perfectly, moving from a politician in a suit to a man who picks up a rifle to defend London. His final scene, sitting behind M’s old desk, sets up the next era of Bond perfectly. skyfall cast
Silva is a cyber-terrorist with a personal vendetta against M, but Bardem plays him less like a criminal mastermind and more like a spurned lover. He is flamboyant, unsettling, and eerily calm. Bardem walks a tightrope between camp and menace; his entrance—a single take monologue as he walks toward a bound Bond—is mesmerizing. He infuses the character with a distinct sexuality and a physical deformity (the prosthetic jaw/sunken face) that harkens back to the classic Bond villains like Jaws or Blofeld, yet feels grounded in a modern psychological trauma. This is Dench’s swan song in the role,