Cody Banks 2: Destination London

Starring: Frankie Muniz, Anthony Anderson and Hannah Spearitt
Directed by: Kevin Allen
Rated: PG

Bluntly speaking? Cody Banks 2 is generic Scooby-Doo plot obvious - but still a bit of family fun. The kid's all right - not great but Cody's loyal audience will be tickled with the new gadgets and quirky (if a tad forced) laugh-a-minute sidekick he's given in Agent Derek (Anthony Anderson).

Story goes...Cody (an almost man-boy Frankie Muniz) is back at camp - a special camp where the kids are all really secret agents for some government agency.

When the smarmy camp counselor goes AWOL with a secret mind-control device, only Cody can get him and save the world. Well, the world's minds.

Off he goes to London where he's partnered with a probationed agent (Anderson). Cody's "cover" is within a prime suspect's home as a clarinet player - with other kids that are protégés. His host agent is there too, as the bumbling chef.

While Cody's magical flute spills out Rachmaninoff's Flight of the Bumble Bee, he sneaks off into secret agenty places to discover a mad dentist and cohorts on the verge of implementing the plan (<- insert evil laugh here please).

This enormous talent (no bundt cake, err, pun intended), Anthony Anderson, needs a real film to showcase himself. Andy kind of steals the film here but in that "pushy" comedian way so popular these days. I for one am sick of his "Compton" brother routine.

Frank needs to find a nice indie film - quick - so he can make the transition to man-actor before it's too late. Enough with the gosh-n-golly routine kid. Get a hold of a Kaufman project…

There's a few good laughs, a couple of clever new agent toys and a devilishly fun remix of the song 'War,' by Cody's new musical friends that'll keep you smiling along with the wee ones amongst you.

Snack recommendation: Beans on toast

Official site's kinda fun->