"Skyfall"

I went to see Skyfall today. As is appropriate in a film celebrating fifty years of the James Bond franchise, a major theme is old-versus-new. In the days of high-tech wizardry, do we still need old-fashioned spy-vs-spy operatives? Are M and Bond past their sell-by date? How does the past (M's, Bond's) inform the present?

In other words, I think what's really being asked is, "do we need any more James Bond films?" The producers have apparently decided that the answer is "yes"; a title at the end of the film reads, "James Bond will be back."

Here's my review in plusses and minuses (spoilers ahoy):

( Skyfall and Spoilers )

Literary note: T. S. Eliot's second wife Valerie Fletcher Eliot died in London. She had kept control of his papers ever since his death; it will be interesting to see what provisions she has made for them.