Agent Cody Banks

Taking advantage of a couple of hot teen television properties at the time, MGM fashioned this fantasy for kids about a typical teenage boy with one big secret. Agent Cody Banks is a CIA operative, part of a special program that trains kids for special missions. And in the title role Frankie Muniz gets to do them, providing he's not grounded.

The other hot property at the time was Hilary Duff who was in Disney's Lizzie McGuire series while Muniz was doing Malcolm In The Middle. She's Frankie's assignment, Duff is the daughter of a scientist who's gone missing and Frankie has to both protect her and find out what's going on.

It's something big all right, scientist Martin Donovan has invented some kind of artificial life that will eat anything carbon or silicon based. That could wreak a lot of havoc in the wrong hands.

Donovan is Duff's father, as for Muniz's parents they are unbelievably clueless, but that's part of the charm of these films. One who's not clueless is Muniz's immediate superior and handler Angie Harmon. She's got a great scene in the prep school where Muniz has been put to be close to Duff with some of the adolescent males there.

Agent Cody Banks with the star power of two current teen idols made a lot of money, so much so a sequel was made. Now if they had really wanted to do something different, they'd have made Duff the secret agent with Muniz her assignment.

This was a decent film, not as innovative as Spy Kids but an improvement over Stormbreaker. Of course it is very silly, and has a predictable plot and an uneven script. But due to the spirited performances from the entire cast, it is great fun. Frankie Muniz gives a sense of charm and cheekiness to his role, and while having less to do, Hilary Duff gives one of her better performances here. Angie Harmon also is fabulously sexy as Agent Miles, revealing outfit and all, and Ian Mcshane is great as Brinkman. While there are discrepancies in the script sometimes, there are inspired moments of physical comedy that delivers the laughs. Also the film goes along at a fast pace, and there are wonderful stunts and action sequences. Predictable, but great fun. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Blatant rip-off of Bond movies for the teen set. It's been done so many times that it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

I really liked it, but then I was going into it knowing what it was and just had fun. I didn't detect any pretension that the film-makers thought it was anything more than it was: a thoroughly enjoyable piece of fluff with a couple of very attractive stars. I was surprised on one or two occasions when Muniz appeared to be doing some stunts that didn't involve wire work to see that this boy has action man potential.

This is the kind of movie that will have the young set whooping with delight. That hottie Angie Harmon also provides interest for older male viewers.

Kiddie spy flicks have become something of a new trend, resulting in the first spin-off since Spy Kids other than the original franchise. To say the least, this film falls way short of that expectation. Yes, the film had cool gadgets, and some decent sequences, it just seemed to lack where Spy Kids excelled. There wasn't that innocent charm or the silliness, for it seemed to be replaced by sexual innuendos and teenage hormones. Unfortunately, this series will most likely get more sequels, which means they have at least another chance to make up for their mistakes.

This is an okay kids' movie; but as college students who often enjoy kids' movies we did not enjoy it. The most irritating thing about this movie for me is that near the beginning of the movie he was 16 and getting his driver's license, and later in the movie he was 15. The entire movie was full of inconsistencies and overall annoying if you cannot stop thinking while watching a movie. We liked Hilary Duff's role, and the plot line on the romance was cute. Frankie and Hilary's chemistry was the best part of the movie.