With such a cool cast and talented director this was always going to be a great movie, and I was so happy to see that they were not afraid to put in the extra effort and money to get great special effects too. This is a very funny movie, well worth owning. Cody Banks (played by Frankie Muniz) is a regular teenager growing up in the USA, his whole life changes during a summer camp where he is selected and trained to be a Junior CIA agent. After intense training Cody returns to “normal” life in the burbs, until being called up for a mission that no one else can pull off. .. Save the world, & catch the bad guys.. of course at his disposal is all the “toys” available for agents. In true James Bond Style, Banks gets a gadget for everything; Shoes that walk on the ceiling, a camera with extendable lenses and a built-in winch, etc. etc. etc.

Banks is the new generation James Bond living on the edge and staying one step ahead of the bad guys. Then, in true James Bond style, in walks Natalie Connors (played by Hillary Duff) to be the “girl” in Cody banks’ life.

Ronica Miles (played by Angie Harmon) is the CIA agent assigned to, train Cody Banks and help him manage his life. She is an agent with real anger management issues and Cody stretches her patience to the limit. Poor Ronica struggles to “control” Cody and at times wonders if it’s all worth the effort. The big question is…can Cody save the world? Capture the bad guys? Win the undying love of Natalie Connors? Complete his homework before his mum calls him for dinner?

This was a great movie I really enjoyed it, the story was well written and easy to follow, with just enough innuendo to be funny without being smutty. My two boys aged 6 and 9 have watched this DVD to death, so I can honestly say it’s a favourite of theirs too.

The humour is clever, and whilst the movie was rated PG, to my relief, not a lot of explanation was required and some of the jokes just went over the head. The gadgets in this movie are so much fun ( I really need to get some of them for myself!). I am a major fan of James Bond and the whole 60’s retro spy movies and Cody Banks has dragged them into this century extremely well and modified them for a family audience. The acting was fabulous and the stars carried off a totally credible performance. Hillary Duff and Frankie Muniz are good together on screen and I look forward to seeing them develop into major Hollywood stars.

The sound and picture quality is second to none and if you have any added DVD features on your player try them out you will enjoy the enhanced sound and picture quality experience.

With the release of Agent Cody Banks 2 in the cinemas now, it’s a great time to be buying this one.

THE EXTRAS

The usual audio commentary, this was well done as they had Frankie Muniz and Hillary Duff speaking too and they are great.

There are makeup tips from Hillary. 5 mins of Hillary naming makeup brands and colour blends I wouldn’t rush to see this.

Some footage of the movie being put together, behind the scenes stuff, e.g. Frankie Muniz learning to skateboard.

The rest of the special features were mainly about how the movie came together, usual stuff with footage of special effects etc. I usually love watching this sort of stuff, but found the set up of the menu to be a tad annoying. Each segment had a gratuitous credit role at the end of it making it long and boring to sift through all that was on offer.

Though well worth the effort on a day with nothing else to do, but certainly not “must see” entertainment.

CONCLUSION

Cody Banks (played by Frankie Muniz) is a regular teenager growing up in the USA, his whole life changes during a summer camp where he is selected and trained to be a Junior CIA agent. After intense training Cody returns to “normal” life in the burbs, until being called up for a mission that no one else can pull off… The big question is…can Cody save the world? Capture the bad guys? Win the undying love of Natalie Connors? Complete his homework before his mum calls him for dinner?