My favorite part was the bit where the multitude of Mary Poppinses banished Voldemort and all the other villains.  (Incidentally, I thought some of the monster costumes looked a lot like the Ghost People from the Fallout add-on Dead Money.) The James Bond bit was also amusing, but sort of weird.

In general, though, I don’t like all that pageantry.  It makes the whole thing seems less about sport and more like a grand theater production, or a massive circus act.  I mean, theoretically, this is the big moment for sports; the opportunity to see who is really the best in all the world, but it all feels more like a show than a real competition.

This article says the ceremony cost $42 million to make.  I don’t know too much about London’s economic situation, but I can’t help wondering if that is a wise use of money.  Might be better to spend it on infrastructure or something.  Still, there should be a Keynesian stimulus effect from it, but probably nothing too major.