Agent Cody Banks

"Agent Cody Banks" was better the last time we saw it — you know, when it was called "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams." And it was even better when we saw it the time before that — you know, when it was simply called "Spy Kids."

The almost overwhelming air of familiarity is not the only thing wrong with this Junior James Bond action-comedy. The film's star, Frankie Muniz, is starting to lose some of the appeal he has earned with TV's "Malcolm in the Middle" and the film "My Dog Skip."

Not that Muniz is to blame for "Cody Banks' " flat humor or its seen-it-all-before action scenes. And he's definitely not responsible for the rather punchless direction that makes the film's numerous problems even more apparent. And, of course, he's not the one who let this surprisingly violent and sometimes mean-spirited and crude film slip by with a PG rating.

Muniz simply stars as the title character, a Seattle teen who's been trained in secret by the CIA. (It turns out the agency has been running clandestine training camps for junior agents for years.) There's never been a need to use Cody or any of the others before, but these are desperate times. The villainous ERIS organization has gotten its hands on nanocytes, tiny destructive robots that could wreak havoc.

So Cody receives his first assignment — to get close to Natalie Connors (Hilary Duff, from the Disney Channel's "Lizzie McGuire" series), the daughter of the scientist who invented the nanocytes. But there's one big complication — Cody is tongue-tied around women. So the mission may be impossible for him to complete, even with assistance from his CIA "handler," Ronica Miles (Angie Harmon).

This is director Harald Zwart's first foray into the action genre, and he's clearly out of his element. Few, if any, of the scenes — action or comic — have the zing they really should have. And judging by the scowl that's on his face some of the time, even Muniz doesn't seem all that enthused by the material.

As for Harmon, she's stuck in a pretty demeaning role that forces her into skimpy, form-fitting outfits. And it's hard to warm up to material that wastes such talented people as Martin Donovan and Cynthia Stevenson, who play Natalie's father and Cody's mom.

"Agent Cody Banks" is rated PG for action violence (hand-to-hand combat, skateboarding and other vehicular stunts, and explosive mayhem) and crude humor relating to sexual and bodily functions. Running time: 110 minutes.

---

E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com