Ripped Off "Austin Powers"! LOL

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2015)

I got around to the local multi-plex over the weekend to see the latest 007 flick directed once again by Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"). I believe Daniel Craig has said this will be his final outing as Bond-?? We'll see.. Of the four Bond films he starred in ("Casino Royale" [2006], "Quantum of Solace" [2008], "Skyfall" [2012], "SPECTRE" [2015]), "Casino" still stands out as the best, and maybe the best film of the overall Eon Productions started by producers, Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. Of the four Craig films, I'll have to put "SPECTRE" third after CR and "Skyfall".
I will say though watching this that I had a little "deja vu" experience *possible SPOILER* after the 2nd "Austin Powers" movie. It seems to me that the storyline involving Bond and Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Oscar winner Christoph Waltz) is eerily similar to the storyline involving Austin Powers and his arch nemesis, "Dr. Evil"-??? LOL Oh, and the ending action scene really left something to be desired, without giving it away- seemed a lot like the cheap ending to the 3rd "Die Hard" film-?? And of the 2 Bond girls in the film, Léa Seydoux was okay, but I really wished they had used more of the delectable Monica Bellucci, who at the age of 50 became the oldest actress ever to be cast as a Bond girl. Deeeeee-lish! Dave Bautista (in a great bad-ass villain!), Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris round out the cast.