Spectre is a stumble on what could have been a homerun in the latter half of Craig's Bond saga, as the sequel to Skyfall does step out of tone with what worked for the actor's incarnation before. I feel part of this is due to a prioritisation to bring everything that came before under the banner of the newly usable Spectre, as the rights were now accessible once more for use in film. I feel trying to create this larger foe does take away from the threats of past movies, especially with the later revelations surrounding Blofeld's connections to Bond, making the world feel smaller. Nevertheless, Bond's surrounding cast remains as strong as it has been, and Swann is a welcome addition.

Bond movies in general vary wildly in quality, and Spectre is a bit on the lower side of the map. The heights of Mendes' and Craig's collaborations features a more sensitive Bond, who could feel like a real person doing a wild job. Spectre just fell flat on that promise, bringing nothing new to the table and doing nothing interesting with it.

Daniel Craig's Bond universe tries its best to begin merging with the campy fun of the originals, but totally fails because their styles are mutually exclusive. Spectre and Blofeld just didn't belong in rebooted Bond canon.