For four decades, audiences have applauded the adventures of James Bond, the sophisticated British secret agent who foils villains, wins the ladies, and looks cool doing it all. Now, from MGM, the same studio that owes its success to the Bond franchise, comes Agent Cody Banks, a kiddie spy flick about an agent who's too young to be drinking martinis and too shy to woo women. Cody Banks is the anti-Bond, a teenager ready to save the world -- after he cleans up his room. 

I know, the idea of small secret agents has been done before (in the Spy Kids movies) and sounds particularly awful in this incarnation. But surprisingly, Agent Cody Banks is actually  fun in a Saturday-afternoon-matinee-take-your-niece/nephew- to-the-movies kind of way. Like the Bond movies, you don't have to put much thought into this flick to have a good time. Just don't let the inevitable cynicism about it all get in your way.

Cody Banks (Frankie Muniz), your average 15-year-old kid,  hangs out with his friends, feuds with his brother, and is clueless when it comes to talking to girls. But secretly, he's a junior agent in the CIA, one of various kids trained in the ways of gadgetry, martial arts, and spy tactics. Cody's time to shine comes when the CIA needs to get some information about what a scientist (Martin Donovan) and his "nanobot" inventions have to do with a mad villain (Ian McShane). Cody's assignment: make friends with Natalie (Hilary Duff), the scientist's daughter, and use her to get the goods on her dad. The trouble is that Cody, while a dedicated agent, fumbles every attempt at getting close to Natalie. The fate of the world, threatened by a madman with an army of nanobots that can consume anything, rests in the hands of a teenage spy -- and relies on his ability to talk with a girl he likes.

Because of its concept, Agent Cody Banks has every opportunity to end up as a complete flop. But there's something about the execution, about the way filmmakers present an antithesis of the suave and smooth James Bond, that's almost too much fun to resist. On surprisingly few occasions does the story become too cutesy or cluttered for its own good. Aside from a scene or two (the explosion-filled climax that doesn't seem to want to end) and a weak subplot or two (I don't buy Natalie taking a liking to Cody so early in the game), Agent Cody Banks is an entertaining kids' flick. There's slick gadgetry, over-the-top bad guys (gotta love Arnold Vosloo and that exclamation-point mohawk), and a sympathetic hero who excels in the spy world while failing miserably in the real world. 

Frankie Muniz delivers a likeable performance as Cody, a wonder kid who discovers that the very things a teen usually starts to think about stand in the way of stopping world domination. This little dude handles himself well in the action scenes (the close-up ones, of course; an obvious stunt double is used for most of the skateboarding and jumping from explosions pieces), but Muniz comes up with his best material when he struggles to get to know Natalie ("Aren't you in Special Ed.?" she says after Cody stammers away in one conversation). Duff is cute and does decent work, but her role doesn't require much of her except to think about how weird Cody is for one second and wait for him to rescue her the next.

As Cody's parents, Daniel Roebuck and Cynthia Stevenson are there merely to wonder what their oldest son is up to all the time, and Angie Harmon, playing Cody's "handler," seems like an addition just for the dads in the audience (complete with outfits that make Honey Ryder look more covered up). But Vosloo (Imhotep from the Mummy movies) gives his all as the mohawk-sporting, track suit-wearing henchman, "SNL's" Darrell Hammond is amusing as this flick's version of Q from the Bond movies, and Keith David appropriately chews the scenery as the CIA director.

At times, Agent Cody Banks might be a little too much, especially when it crams in too many explosions and gives one bad guy an icky demise right at the end. Still, while it's not as colorful or inventive as the superior Spy Kids movies, Agent Cody Banks, as slick and corny as it is, definitely merits video rental consideration in the future. Being able to enjoy this film is not a mission imposssible.

MY RATING: ** ½ (out of ****)

(Review also posted at www.ajhakari.com.)

Released by MGM and rated "PG" for action violence, mild language and some sensual content.