It returns us to the spy craft of Connery’s era and the books.

Which is why TLD is one of my favorite post-Connery films. You get to see Bond act like a spy as much as an action hero. And how about Q Branch deploying the 'pig' escape rig? Thought that was a clever way of giving them something to do besides outfit Bond.

I do not buy into the “gritty” Bond concept

"Dalton is gRitTy" is a bad meme. But he brings a certain intensity to the character without going full burnout drunkard. Like when he doesn't give a shit if M might fire him ("I'll thank him for it"), or has Pushkin at gunpoint in the hotel.

he is the weakest Bond villain I can remember

True but that doesn't bother me in the context of the film. Cello skiing aside, the film's more grounded than others, and has a "here's Bond on a standard mission, not all of them are about saving the whole world."