Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London

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Agent Cody Banks 2:
Destination London
Agent Cody Banks 2 film.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKevin Allen
Screenplay byDon Rhymer
Story by
Based onCharacters
by Jeffrey Jurgensen
Produced by
  • David Glasser
  • Bob Yari
  • Guy Oseary
  • David Nicksay
  • Evan Plummer
  • Dylan Sellers
Starring
CinematographyDenis Crossan
Edited byAndrew MacRitchie
Music byMark Thomas
Production
companies
Distributed byMGM Distribution Co. (United States)
20th Century Fox (International)[1]
Release date
  • March 12, 2004 (2004-03-12)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$26 million[2]
Box office$28.8 million[2]

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, Anthony Anderson, Hannah Spearritt 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.[2]

Plot[]

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 capture 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. Duncan is arrested with Diaz and Santiago, much to Lady Kenworth's delight.

After the villains are arrested, Cody and Emily kiss each other on the cheek 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.

Cast[]

Production[]

Director of the first Cody Banks film, Harald Zwart, was initially poised to return but left over financial disagreements. MGM execs disputed Zwart’s figures, saying that twice they had bumped up the pic’s budget during negotiations to meet his expectations. The proposed budget had moved north of $30 million, with the price rising moderately, as often happens with sequels.[3] Director Kevin Allen was offered the directing job after MGM brass were impressed with his indie comedies. An executive mandate for the film was for less reliance on CGI setpieces and placing more emphasis on comedy with Allen saying of the mandate, “If you ain’t got the money, make ’em laugh.”[4] Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London filmed in London and Cobham Hall in Kent where the Gilt Room doubled as the Queen's gift room at Buckingham Palace as Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz) fights Victor Diaz (Keith Allen) in a room full of treasures.[5]

Home media[]

Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London was released on VHS and DVD on July 13, 2004 and the Blu-ray was then released on May 24, 2016.

Music[]

Reception[]

Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 14% "Rotten" rating based on 95 reviews, with an average score of 3.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "Young kids may find this London adventure fun, but older kids may find it too simplistic."[6] Coming exactly one year after the first Cody Banks film, Frankie Muniz’s ”Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London” opened with only $8 million, compared to $14.1 million for its predecessor.[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004)". BBFC. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  3. ^ McNary, David Bloom,Dave; Bloom, David; McNary, Dave (2003-04-24). "'Banks 2' suffers helmer withdrawal". Variety. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  4. ^ Higgins, Bill (2004-03-09). "Kids spark 'Agent' redux". Variety. Retrieved 2021-07-21.
  5. ^ Kent Film Office. "Kent Film Office Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London Article".
  6. ^ "Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004) - Rotten Tomatoes". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "The Passion raises another $31.7 million". EW.com. Retrieved 2021-07-22.

External links[]

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