Revisited - Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004)

Welcome one and all to one of the goldmines of the mid-2000's. Laugh all you want but in all seriousness, this movie was one of my favorites growing up as a kid and made me think of actually following the career path of being a real spy. So what made me love this movie so much? Well, I like to think that each decade has its on flavor of movies and the mid-2000's was no different with it's own unique feel whether that be with it's acting, script, directing, or just the setting around them, the movies out of each decade feel different and unique in their own way and in turn, makes you want to go back and relive that era through them and this was one of them for me. I loved the first film as a kid but I feel this one is more solid and overall feels like a fun spy adventure that any kid would kill to be apart of. Of course, the film isn't going to win any Oscars with it's writing or acting but man, not every movie has to be like that. This film is fun and still is and maybe that's all you need to enjoy a movie.

Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London is a 2004 American action comedy buddy film and the sequel to the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks. Directed by Kevin Allen and written by Don Rhymer, the film stars Frankie Muniz, Hannah Spearritt, Anthony Anderson and Keith David. The film takes place in London with Cody and his buffoonish adult partner, Derek trying to recover a stolen software and stop the activation of the government's mind control project.The film was released in the United States on March 12, 2004 and grossed $28 million worldwide, against its $26 million budget.

Agent Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) attends summer camp, actually a secret facility for training CIA teenage agents. When a group of CIA soldiers attempt to abduct head counselor Victor Diaz (Keith Allen), Cody helps him escape, mistaking the CIA operation for a training exercise. The director informs Cody that Diaz stole disks containing plans for a secret mind-control device, and sends Cody to recapture him.

In the United Kingdom, Cody poses as a summer orchestra student at the Kenworth estate to spy on owner Lord Duncan Kenworth (James Faulkner), suspected of working with Diaz, supported by his handler, Derek (Anthony Anderson) and Kumar (Rod Silvers), Derek's right-hand man, who are disguised as a chef hired by Lady Josephine Kenworth (Anna Chancellor) and a taxi driver respectively. Whilst keeping his mission a secret from his fellow students, Cody sneaks around the estate and confirms that Diaz and Duncan are working together and that they have a working prototype of the mind control device, evidenced when Duncan makes a dog serve drinks and play the piano.

The next day, Cody breaks into a lab owned by Duncan, where he sees the finished device: a microchip inserted as a filling into a tooth cavity by dentist Santiago (Santiago Segura). Shortly afterwards Cody and Derek chase Diaz, armed with a rocket gun, through London streets, but Cody is captured by the Metropolitan Police Service and taken to Scotland Yard. He is later freed by Emily (Hannah Spearritt), a fellow student who, similar to Cody, is actually a British Scotland Yard undercover operative. While Emily buys coffee and soda, henchmen sneak up on Cody, knocking him unconscious by drugging him with spray. They kidnap him and implant him with the microchip.

Under Duncan, Santiago and Diaz's influence, Cody meets the CIA director on a London bus who is then also converted. Unknown to them and Cody this is witnessed by Emily from a bus in front. Emily then explains things to Derek that the director alongside Cody are both converted and that they need to get the microchip out of Cody. After knocking out Cody by elbowing him in the face Derek carefully cuts up one of Cody's gadgets, exploding Mentos mints, into a precisely minuscule amount to safely remove it. The group later realise Diaz's plan: to implant all of the world leaders, who are all in London for a G7 summit at Buckingham Palace, effectively giving him control of the world. He tries to do something to stop him from controlling the world including London but, constantly fails.

Deducing that with the CIA director under Diaz's control, they may be put on a most wanted list, Cody, Derek and Emily infiltrate the party before the summit. There, they realize that most of the dignitaries have already been implanted due to bizarre behavior and Duncan being appointed director of the Royal Mint by the British Prime Minister (upon accepting this, Duncan cruelly states to Josephine that he is leaving her). They explain the truth to the other students, who are performing for the guests, and urge them to keep the world leaders from attending the G7 summit. They later proceed to do so with an impromptu but rousing performance of War, accompanied by dancing and clapping from the assembled dignitaries and Queen Elizabeth herself, whilst Cody, Emily and Derek search for the villains. Derek is implanted with the microchip, and is set on Cody by Santiago. Before Santiago can kill him through Derek, Emily finds and subdues him, disabling the mind control software and rescuing the U.S. President, who was to be implanted.

Shortly after Cody kicks out Derek's microchip, the two of them remove the CIA director's microchip. Diaz, realising that his plan has failed attempts to flee, but ends up fighting, and being defeated by Cody in the Queen's gift room, destroying numerous priceless artifacts in the process. Duncan also attempts to escape, but is tripped by Trival Jenkins (David Kelly), his apparently senile and blind butler, who turns out to be Emily's handler and is arrested with Diaz and Santiago, much to Lady Kenworth's delight.

After the villains are arrested, Emily and Cody share a final kiss before Cody sets off to return to America. Both promising to keep in contact. Alongside Cody returning to America as a reward Derek also returns to the camp and replaced Diaz as head counsellor. Cody's parents pick him up, none the wiser about his dangerous exploits. Alex (Connor Widdows), Cody's younger brother tries to eat a few of his explosive Mentos, but Cody tosses them into the pond where they explode harmlessly.

Overall, I say go watch this movie because it's damn near just fun to watch. Yes there are corny moments in the film, the writing is not always solid and the acting is what it is but overall, this film feels like it had love put into it, that people were having fun while they were making it and I keep saying that in these blogs because it really does mean a lot in how the film comes out in the final project. I love the spy genre from James Bond to Mission Impossible and well to Cody Banks and Johnny English I have to admit. A film doesn't have to be serious or have a stellar cast, what a film really needs is just to grab it's audience and give them a experience that they won't forget and I feel this movie does just that in it's on way that I can't help but love. Ricardo Signing Off