First re-watch of NTTD since being appalled by it in 2021... I didn't hate it

Had no desire to re-watch as I see it as a franchise-killer, but I saw the imdb rating is pretty good and it was free on a streaming service so went for it. I think it's a fairly decent and enjoyable action film, better than several entries in the series when judged purely as an action film.

However, like all the other Craig films, it just doesn't quite sit right with me as Bond film - for 20+ movies Bond was always having fun and enjoying his job (LTK a slight exception). Other than the final moments of OHMSS, Bond is never miserable. In the Craig run, after QoS he seems to just want to hang around in bars brooding and getting drunk instead of serving his country.

What also bugs me about the Craig films is you have this apparently serious, gritty, emotional protagonist but the villains and plots are straight from the Roger Moore era.

I'm sure these aren't new takes, but they're the thoughts of a life-long Bond fan who has bought the entire series of films on different formats.

Nomi - I didn't hate the character but she does not make sense at all.

Bond is an Mi5 hero who performed the 00 role for years. Nomi works with Q, Tanner, M and Moneypenny who would all vouch for Bond's skill, courage and service. Yet Nomi does not have one single ounce of respect for him and seems to outright hate him. I get that she's competitive and threatened in terms of the mission, but she treats him with pure contempt and even threatens him.

She's completely unprofessional and it just seems like lazy writing where she hates Bond purely so she can soften her position later and work with him. At least when M does the feminist rant at Bond in Goldeneye, she acknowledges he's a valuable agent. Nomi should have had some nuance where she disliked Bond but had to balance it with respect. Instead she just comes across as arrogant and unlikable which they inexplicably focused on in the early trailer - I always wondered if they changed things around a bit after the reaction to it.

Safin - Foreign accent, talks slowly, has a plan to kill people. Like too many other completely forgettable Bond villains.

Madleine - a bit nothing really. There's no obvious reason why Bond falls for her.

Daughter - Exists purely to make Bond suffer more.

Blofeld's eye - So it's small, powered indefinitely, can transmit across the globe undetected, Blofeld can see what it sees somehow even though no one has access to him. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I was very confused by this as a concept. Above point about Craig being serious in silly films definitely applies here.

The ending - Just felt very contrived to fast forward to his demise. We can 100% rule out that no medical advances will be made in 5-10 year then? Terrible decision that just makes future continuity and casting confusing if, for example, you wanted to use Ralph Fiennes again. I always liked that characters could have different actors and things just carried on and we didn't need to interrogate the timeline or logic.

Could have left it ambiguous but no, the producer has a crush on the actor who hates the character so we have to kill him and spoil it for everyone. Any perceived emotional impact of the death is completely undone by saying 'James Bond will return' seconds later. I don't think this will ever not be the worst plot decision ever made. Part of me thinks the best outcome is that Bond is left dead and the series ends and I'll just enjoy the old films.