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

Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) is a regular teenager in real life but is training as a secret CIA agent unknown to his parents (Cynthia Stevenson, Daniel Roebuck). Dr. Connors (Martin Donovan) is developing nanobots to eat up oil slicks but he doesn't know that he works for an evil organization E.R.I.S. who will use them as weapons. Cody is tasked to befriend his daughter Natalie Connors (Hilary Duff) only that he's not quite the ladies man that the CIA director (Keith David) thinks he is. The agency sends hot and bitter Ronica Miles (Angie Harmon) as his handler.

It's a silly little James Bond Jr movie. It does go into stupid territories a lot. I don't mind most of that but it's generally not funny. I do mind Angie Harmon strutting around in the boys locker room. It's more than a little creepy and again it's not funny. His girl shyness is cute but again it's taken to a creepy place. It would be better for the movie to fully embrace the PG rating. I actually really liked some of the action like his rescue of the kid in the runaway car. This should be more of a kids movie but I'm guessing they're trying to target this for teenage boys. It's a mistake since most of them would want something much more grown up.

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.