Rushed sequel to the 2003 surprise hit "Agent Cody Banks"; this one flopped at the box office and effectively terminated any plans for a series. Teenagers in an undemanding mood might still go for it, but adults may not be so forgiving. Though the cast tries, and there are a few cute and amusing moments, the film is overall uninspired and by-the-numbers. Even the London footage doesn't add much. ** out of 4.

Agent Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is at CIA camp. When helicopters come, he camp director Diaz escape. It turns out CIA was trying to capture Diaz for stealing a mind control chip. Now Banks has to go to London as an undercover musical prodigy to get close to a scientist who Diaz needs to perfect a mind control device. Banks gets a new wisecracking handler Derek (Anthony Anderson).I don't usually like Anthony Anderson, and I really really don't like him here. He's more annoying than usual. And going to London does nothing but create a whole bunch of idiotic stereotypes. Hannah Spearritt seems a bit to old to be a teen. As far as the production, it looks like a bad TV show inside the London residence. Cody Banks is a silly little teen movie. So that's to be expected in the sequel. But this is too silly. It doesn't even maintain the already low expectations.

I ended my review of Agent Cody Banks by calling it exactly what it was, which was a direct-to-DVD, TV movie that had the luxury of being released nationwide in theaters. Now we have Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, which stunningly got the same treatment. This is the kind of film you encounter years after its release, stunned at its very existence. Who was this picture made for? The kids who enjoyed the first one? It seemed the first film was substantial enough for a quick, spy-themed sugar rush. "The Los Angeles Times" called the original film, "a clever and lively action-adventure," and preceded to call this sequel, "ingenious...a handsome, often hilarious comedy-adventure." Perhaps it was made for the staff of the "LA Times," who appear to be the franchise's biggest fans.Well, Agent Cody Banks 2 and its predecessor certainly weren't made for me. If I'm going to like a film deemed at younger audiences, it better be mature, somewhat substantial, and imaginative and this sequel is none of the above. It's a tired droll that successfully creates a franchise out of one that, you guessed it, didn't need to be created in the first place. If anything, the only thing this film succeeded in was distracting its talent from other projects they could've and should've been doing instead.The story is just as much of an unoriginal slog as it was the first time we endured it. The title character is back, reprised by Frankie Muniz, who has spent his summer at a CIA recruitment camp disguised as your average, happy-go-lucky summer camp. When Banks mistakes a real attack as an invasion, he allows Victor Diaz (Keith Allen), the alleged head counselor who is trying to get away, to make an escape with discs containing information on how to create a mind control device to manipulate others. Now Banks, with the help of the bumbling Derek (Anthony Anderson) and the obligatory beauty Emily (Hannah Spearritt), must try and retrieve the mind control disc and stop Diaz before this all gets out of hand.In the period of a year (exactly a year, seeing as this came out the same weekend its predecessor did), Cody Banks hasn't changed too much. He still works better as a marketing gimmick for young children who actually believe they could be him and relate to his "struggle" and lust for girls and adventure. Cody Banks is the kind of kid you'd like to play as a child, running around your house, maybe with a few fake weapons, sliding on your mother's furniture, on her newly-polished floor, prancing around and starring in your own little show. I'd rather watch three children play "Cody Banks" in their hours rather than watch a robotic sequel to a film that was already difficult to sit through.I suppose the main problem with this franchise is it's a TV movie playing dress up. I could see parents in the theater in 2004 questioning why they're paying the theater's surcharge for a film that will look just fine and play just as well on TV in a few more months (or simply just deserves to be on TV). If you were to show the average Joe Agent Cody Banks or its sequel on a theater screen, providing them with no prior knowledge of the film, they'd likely assume it was a TV movie blown up on the big screen.Once again, Muniz is a bit charming here, which goes a long way in a film like this. Anthony Anderson, a good-spirited but often shortchanged actor, remains the butt of almost every joke, and Hannah Spearritt doesn't have half the chemistry of Hillary Duff from the first film. She has the blonde hair and a smile, but what she lacks is the irrevocable chemistry Duff had.There are way better films at your local video store than Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. They will likely provide your child with imaginative setups along with values and insight. This is a film that provides about as much healthy nourishment to children as a bowl of cereal and a ten minute commercial break.Starring: Frankie Muniz, Anthony Anderson, and Hannah Spearritt. Directed by: Kevin Allen.

This time around Cody Banks is at a summer camp training program for the C.I.A. and one night helicopters come in and attack. Banks thinks its a practice mission only to find it was real and that his camp trainer was a bad guy and the helicopters had came for him. He then is sent to London to join a musical group and find out information on a bad guy who is married to the conductor. He soon learns that his C.I.A. trainer is over there and he and the bad guy are working on devices to have brain control over humans. This time he has a partner who sticks by his side posing as a cook and soon finds out one of his band mates is a secret agent as well.Much better than the first one, but still was a let down. This time around Banks seemed a little more grown up and his partner played by Anderson did a great job with one liners, in fact the whole cast was better than the original. There was lots more comedy. Much better music and the director seemed to aim more at the story than the action, which is good in a kids film. The director shot it as if it were a drama dealing more with character as opposed to the director in part 1 which tried hard to shoot it as a hard action film. All and all it was a better film, but it still was just for kids and lacked anything appealing to anyone over the age of 15.As I said direction was better from a guy trying to prove him self and did a good job, but haven't seen much else from him after this. Much of the same cast was back Keith David, Daniel Roebuck, etc. New comers included Anthony Anderson and I thought he made this movie great, always been a fan of his and his one liners. I really liked the music better too, not only was the score better but they added some decent rock songs including Rancids "Fall Back Down".I must say this James Bond wanna be was about the same as the first one and was short on action and heavier on gadgets. It would be a good film to watch for a younger audience and it's very kid friendly, but adults wouldn't enjoy it too much. 3/10 stars