Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

As ingenious and lively as the original film.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Apart from funny supporting work by the inventor of the Mind Control and the guy in the "Q" role, the movie is pretty routine.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

With lots of cool gadgets, plenty of silliness and a clever concept guaranteed to appeal to preteens, this should be an unflagging, high-octane romp.

Variety Scott Foundas

Mildly diverting caper.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

Muniz is quite winning as a plucky teen who is constantly being thrown into situations over his head. But the usually reliable Anthony Anderson e-mails in his performance as Cody's handler.

Washington Post Dan Via

Kids should be reasonably diverted for a couple of hours, but odds are they'll have forgotten the whole thing by the next morning.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Ellen A. Kim

Try as it might, this glossy action adventure isn't nearly as clever as the "Spy Kids" franchise.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Stretching what was a cute concept to the breaking point.

Boston Globe Janice Page

Muniz has better secret-agent toys to play with, funnier lines and sidekicks helping him out, and a bit more discerning director in Kevin Allen ("The Big Tease").

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

If you have a low opinion of the first "Cody Banks," and your kids drag you to this one, you may be tempted to do some food-flinging of your own.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

So the movie's OK in spots, but it's mostly so familiar that even the young target audience may get that deja vu feeling.

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

At bottom, there's just too much spy in young Cody, and too little kid. The writers might've taken (another) page from the ''Spy Kids'' playbook and infused the action with youth relevance.

Dallas Observer Jean Oppenheimer

Given the great premise and characters inherited from the first film, it's surprising that this sequel fails to match its predecessor's appeal. The humor is silly, broad, and surprisingly generic.

LA Weekly Jon Strickland

Muniz has a great face and body for physical comedy, but the numerous one-liners shoehorned into the script fall flat, unassisted by Anderson's numbing “street” ad-libs.

Chicago Tribune Allison Benedikt

It's a movie, and certain liberties are bound to be taken, but having Derek stop a moped-driving Brit on the street by pulling out some sort of identification and yelling, "CIA, I need your moped!" is not the way.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

In terms of inspiration or even the slightest shred of ingenuity, Banks ranks more like an 000 than an 007.

The New York Times Dave Kehr

Mr. Allen's work is compromised by an apparent inability to match his shots in a spatially coherent fashion. It's never easy to tell who is chasing whom and in which direction, a needless confusion that dampens many of the thrills and scuttles quite a few gags.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Opens with its snazziest effects sequences and gets cheaper from there, as if studio executives were constantly scaling back the budget as the filmmakers went along.

Chicago Reader Hank Sartin

As hard as the film tries to pander, the kids at the preview screening seemed a bit disengaged.

Premiere Laine Ewen

While the canine is a scene stealer, the movie is a dog.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

After 90 minutes of diligently searching the premises of ACB2, no evidence of mass entertainment can be found. Recommend cancellation of all future similar missions.

TV Guide Ethan Alter

Continuity errors are as numerous as product placements and though shot on location, the movie captures none of London's local color.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Everything about Agent Cody Banks 2 reeks of hurry-up and make this movie before its kid star Frankie Munoz loses his pubescent looks (it’s already borderline).

Village Voice Ben Kenigsberg

It's hard to despise a movie with the balls to posit that its Blair-look-alike PM has been brainwashed by a corrupt CIA operative, but Banks 2 is really pretty hateful.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Should have been stopped at customs -- as family entertainment, it constitutes child abuse.