"Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London is pure fun."
Sherri Winston SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL
"With lots of cool gadgets, plenty of silliness and a clever concept guaranteed to appeal to preteens, this should be an unflagging, high-octane romp."
Elizabeth Weitzman NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
"Here's just about everything a 6-year-old spy would hope to find in a kiddie-espionage flick, with just a twinge of romance, but nothing serious to interrupt Cody's undoubtedly continuing career."
Susan Walker TORONTO
"As ingenious and lively as the original film."
Kevin Thomas LOS ANGELES TIMES
What The Critics Say
"Director Kevin Allen, who has more acting than directing credits under his belt, does an admirable job of keeping the pace fast enough that kids are entertained and parents aren't checking their watches every five minutes."
Sue Pierman MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
"A speedy, gadget-filled adventure with the same overall innocence that will attract parents and children."
Liz Braun JAM! MOVIES
"Critics expending a lot of energy on how bad [it] supposedly is need to take a deep breath. We’re not the target audience for this silly... spy movie [for] the preteen set. "
Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
At A Glance
Isn't it funny how you can really 'latch' on to an actor, give them a big wrap and the very next thing, they're letting you down. Such is the case with the sequal to the highly successful "Agent Cody Banks". In the latest edition of the junior spy flick there are two 'stars' who disappoint big time. The first is Frankie Muniz who looked as though he had the goods in both "Big Fat Liar" and "Agent Cody Banks" but appears to be totally out of place here. The other is Anthony Anderson the talented black american comedian who can generally be relied upon to provide plenty of good laughs, as he did in the recent comedy drama, "Barbershop", but who here falls flat on his face. And the news gets even worse if you are a dad or a pubescent teen male. That super sexy sidekick and Cody Banks mentor Ronica Miles played by the very dishy Angie Harmon isn't back in her tight, revealing costumes. Oh woe is me. "Agent Cody Banks:Destination London" reminds me of mandatory sentencing, three strikes and your out. And the bad news keeps coming. It was twenty minutes before we got a laugh out of Destination London even thought the film-makers threw every tired old, worn out gag at us. I mean, some of these attempts at comedy were so bad that even the kids will see how feeble they are. But is it all bad news for "Agent Cody Banks:Destination London"?
The answer is no. If you can grin and bear that first twenty minutes you'll be rewarded with reasonably entertaining film. I stress reasonably
good. While it will keep the little ones happy, teens and adults who found the first edition as action packed, high tech and twice as sexy as a James Bond flick will struggle a lot with Destination London. Somehow they've taken a good thing and like a ressurected vampire they've sucked the lifeblood, the freshness and everything out of what was so good about the original, slapped this one together and that spells total disaster. No you're better off leaving this to the under ten brigade folk who are about the only ones who will be wide-eyed [or have their eyes open] at the end of "Agent Cody Banks:Destination London".
Cast and Crew Bytes
"Agent Cody Banks:Destination London" was directed by Kevin Allen [who appeared in "The Supergrass", "The Firm", "Trainspotting" and "The Big Tease" and directed "Twin Town" and "The Big Tease" ], written by Don Rhymer ["Under Wraps" "Big Momma's House" and "The Santa Clause 2"], edited by Andrew MacRitchie ["Who Framed Roger Rabbit", "Elizabeth" and "The Mummy"], casting by John Papsidera ["Independence Day", "Drop Dead Gorgeous", "Slackers" and "Final Destination 2"], production design by Richard Holland ["End of Days"], with original music by Mark Thomas ["Wild Justice", "Twin Town", "The Big Tease" and "Dog Soldiers"].
"Agent Cody Banks:Destination London"
stars Frankie Muniz ["Little Man", "My Dog Skip", "Big Fat Liar" and "Agent Cody Banks"], Anthony Anderson ["Life", "Romeo Must Die", "Barbershop", "Exit Wounds" and "Scary Movie 3"], Hannah Spearritt ["S Club Seeing Double"], Cynthia Stevenson ["The Player", "forget Paris", "Live Nude Girls" and "Happiness"], Daniel Roebuck ["Cavegirl", "Terror Eyes", "The Fugitive" and "Final Destination"], Anna Chancellor ["Killing Dad", "Four Weddings and A Funeral", "Crush" and "The Dreamers"], Santiago Segura ["Sabotage!', "Blade II"], Keith Allen [Loose Connections", "Scandal", "The Others" and "Twenty Four Hour Party People"], James Faulkner ["Conduct Unbecoming", "Zulu Dawn", "The Maid", "Bridget Jones's Diary" and "I Capture the Castle"], David Kelly ["Dublin Nightmare", "The Italian Job", "The Barber Shop", "Greenfingers" and "The Calcium Kid"] and Keith David ["Platoon", "Bird", "Reality Bites" "Loose Women" and "Armageddon"] as the C.I.A Director.
The Story
The junior CIA agents are at camp and training hard to impress their super tough director Diaz. Everyone wants to put in a good showing, especially when young Cody Banks has shown them just how well a teenage spy can do. The stress is elevated when all their parents arrive. The gang manage to get through Parent's Day and settle in for a good nights sleeps. But in the middle of the night the camp is raided in an assault by land, water and air. With the alarm raised they spring into action led by Cody. His first priority is to protect the camp director. Cody saves the day by assisting Diaz to escape in one of the assault helicopters. But Diaz isn't all he seems as Cody is about to find out. Diaz has stolen highly sensitive mind controlling software and is going to use it to control the minds of world leaders who will be in London for a G7 meeting. Cody must pursue him and recover the software.
The Verdict
"Fails to measure up to the original "Agent Cody Banks" and that's a real disappointment for the many, many adults who really enjoyed the pace, fun and the refreshing spy-spoofing origionality. Adutls will find the going slow. Best to leave this one for the under 10 set who will probably enjoy this the most. Goes to show how hard it is to make a good sequal. Entertaining enough kids stuff."
The Cast
Frankie Muniz
Anthony Anderson
Hannah Spearritt
Cynthia Stevenson
Daniel Roebuck
Anna Chancellor
Keith Allen
James Faulkner
David Kelly
Santiago Segura
Connor Widdows
Keith David
Jack Stanley
Joshua Brody
Sarah McNicholas
Paul Kaye
Harry Burton
Julian Firth
Martyn Ellis
Damien Hirst
Mark Williams
James Dreyfus
Patti Love
Henry Miller
Sam Douglas
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Cody Banks
Derek
Emily
Mrs Banks
Mr Banks
Jo Kenworth
Diaz
Kenworth
Trival
Santiago
Alex Banks
C.I.A. Director
Ryan
Bender
Marisa
Neville
Westminster Headmaster
Isambard Jerkalot
Welsh Security Guard
Arty Fart Security Guard
Inspector Crescent
Gordon
Woman
Moped Man
US President
The Crew
Directed by Kevin Allen
Original Music by Mark Thomas
Cinematography by Denis Crossan
Film Editing by Andrew MacRitchie
Casting by John Papsidera
Production Design by Richard Holland
Set Decoration by Sara Wan
Costume Design by Steven Noble
Production Management Nigel Gostelow
Run Time 100 minutes
Rated PG [AUST]
Copyright ©2004 - Twentieth Century Fox - All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2004 - Impact Internet Services & The Movie Pages - All Rights Reserved