'Cody' too formulaic to be funny

By Margaret McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

AGENT CODY BANKS 2: DESTINATION LONDON PG Two Stars (Fair) Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz), top, and his handler, Derek (Anthony Anderson) take a wild ride through London. But critic Roger Ebert says even the action scenes in "Agent Cody Banks 2" lack spark. MGM

He worked his just-like-one-of-us approachability like a charm last year as the junior James Bond called Agent Cody Banks, scoring a respectable hit in his fluffy but fun movie debut.

The sequel, "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London," is equally fluffy, though not as much fun.

Whatever appeal the movie musters rests entirely on Cody's looks and personality, even when he is treating his clueless movie parents (Cynthia Stevenson and Daniel Roebuck) like feeble-minded burdens.

Clueless parents, of course, are a staple of tween and pre-teen fantasies; just like the secret satellite dishes and missile launchers hidden at the "summer camp" where Cody trains.

It is from that camp that Cody heads overseas for a change of scenery, and a change of flirting partner. Hilary Duff is out; Hannah Spearritt is in, playing a fellow student at the exclusive music academy where Cody is sent as a cover for his latest secret mission.

The object is a mind-control device that the boring bad guy (Keith Allen) intends to implant in world leaders.

Cody's job is to stop him. However, his real purpose in life is to run around using all the cool gadgets that come with his job — such teen-friendly gear as exploding Mentos and a listening device hidden in a retainer — and to share slapstick moments with his "handler" Derek (Anthony Anderson).

The story is so beside the point that screenwriter Don Rhymer may in fact have compiled it from random snippets out of the Dana Carvey workbook.

Director Kevin Allen makes no special effort to squeeze sense out of the plot. When the story lags, he just gets Anderson into another sloppy mess. (In his cover job as cook, Anderson is a one-man food fight.)

There is an old rule-of-thumb that says that the more writers on a movie, the lamer it will be. I'm thinking of amending that rule to include executive producers. "Cody Banks 2" credits four writers, and eight executive producers — one of whom is Madonna.

Could be that this is a case of way, way too many cooks and not nearly enough broth.

Rated PG for action violence, some crude humor.