12 Things You Learn Rewatching Skyfall

5. M's Tennyson Reading Is Pretty Cringe-Worthy

In the film's third act, M (Judi Dench) is called before a parliamentary inquiry to answer for how she handled the stolen hard drive situation, culminating in an attempt on her life by Silva.

Moments before that happens, though, M launches into an unprompted reading of Tennyson's "Ulysses", which she claims was a favourite poem of her late husband. While Skyfall is mostly a pretty classy entry into the Bond franchise, this poetry reading just feels a little too clumsy and on-the-nose to hit the poignant note it clearly wants to.

Even if you can parse Tennyson's complex wording, it's comical to hear M blurting out poetry in the middle of a public inquiry, juxtaposed as it is against Bond's desperate quest to stop Silva.

A far better example of classic literature being integrated into a Hollywood blockbuster came a few months earlier in The Dark Knight Rises, where Christopher Nolan used Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" to legitimately jolting effect. Here, though, it just feels a bit pretentious and forced.