No Time To Die : All 5 Daniel Craig James Bond Films Ranked

Spectre should have been, to use a classic promotion line, "the biggest Bond of all".

For several reasons, Spectre failed regardless of the thrilling idea of reviving a classic fan-favourite character, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The continuity of the Craig films could have been used to build up to the reveal, and build up to the return of SPECTRE, bringing together elements of the past films to give fans a brilliantly climactic reveal that pays homage to the series' past and provides an opportunity to flourish with such a villain.

Yet it ended up feeling like a tacked on last-minute decision, with Blofeld not doing much more than claiming he'd been orchestrating the events of the previous films. (The fact that he is Bond's long-lost brother doesn't even warrant comment). The fact that the story is designed to hinge on the Blofeld reveal is what makes it such a disappointment.

To add insult to injury, Blofeld doesn't even get the place of villain to himself, pushed aside by Andrew Scott's C, who doesn't even come into direct conflict with 007, instead clashing with the other MI6 regulars in scenes distractingly interspersed with Bond's own plot thread.

Four films into the gritty tone makes a style which initially felt refreshing feel tired, but the anticlimactic "reveal" is fans' man grievance with Spectre. It does weigh down a film which contains several scenes of Bond-worthy action and terrific chemistry and performances from Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux.