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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
link to the most popular dvd movies. |
|
| Agent
Cody Banks - Special Edition
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
David
Litton |
| Genre: |
Action/Comedy
|
| Video: |
2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen,
1.33:1 fullframe
|
| Audio: |
English Dolby Digital 5.1,
French Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 |
| Language: |
English, French, Spanish
|
| Subtitle: |
English, French, Spanish |
| Length: |
102 min
|
| Rating: |
PG
|
| Release
Date: |
08/05/2003
|
| Studio: |
MGM Home Entertainment |
| Commentary:
|
Feature commentary with director
Harald Zwart and cast members
Frankie Muniz and Angie Harmon |
| Documentaries:
|
None
|
| Featurettes:
|
"Developing Cody Banks" featurette,
"Creating Cody's World"
featurettes, "Posting Cody Banks" featurettes, "Director's
Diary"
featurette, "Frankie Going Big" featurette, "Agent
Action" featurette, "How
to Talk to Girls" featurette, "Makeup Tips by Hilary
Duff" featurette
|
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None
|
|
Interviews: |
None
|
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Theatrical trailers |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
Deleted scenes, outtakes
|
| Music
Video: |
None
|
| Other:
|
Storyboard-to-film comparisons,
multi-angle sequences, photo gallery |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff,
Angie Harmon, Keith David, Cynthia
Stevenson, Arnold Vosloo, Ian McShane |
| Written
By: |
Ashley Edward Miller, Zack
Stentz, Scott Alexander, Larry
Karaszewski
|
| Produced
By: |
David C. Glasser, Andreas
Klein, Guy Oseary, David Nicksay,
Dylan Sellers
|
| Directed
By: |
Harald Zwart
|
| Music:
|
John Powell |
| The
Review: |
Taking an obvious cue from
the likes of the "Spy Kids" movies,
"Agent Cody Banks" zips along with gadgets and gizmos
galore, but when it
comes to likeability, it can't touch that of Robert Rodriguez's
adventures
about young spies in peril. The concept is basically the same
here, with
Frankie Muniz portraying the titular character, a 16-year-old
high school
student/undercover CIA operative whose latest assignment involves
the
infiltration of an uppity prep school to make nice with Natalie
Connors
(Hilary Duff of the "Lizzie McGuire" hype). It just
so happens that Natalie
is the daughter of a well-known scientist whose experiments
and research
with nano-technology have led to his disappearance, the only
link to his
existence being a hurried video-recording detailing the evil
plans of ERIS,
an organization run by the unflinching Brinkman (Ian McShane)
and his
right-hand man Molay (Arnold Vosloo).
***
Acting as a combination of all things teen pop and James Bond,
the movie
tries ever-so-desperately to be liked, and succeeds only a fraction
of the
time. Obvious comparisons to the "Spy Kids" franchise
aside, the film itself
simply lacks the juice or the energy needed to make it as fun
or as
memorable as its predecessors, with a long, plodding series
of events that
occupy way too much running time that leaves attention spans
waning and
comatose long before it's reached the climax. And to think that
there's
already a sequel in the works; whether that's a sign of hope
or dread is too
early to tell. Rising star Frankie Muniz, who did such a good
job in last
year's "Big Fat Liar," is basically playing a somewhat
updated version of
that character, albiet with the whole agent aspect tacked onto
the typical
school kid approach. He's an enticing child actor, one whom
I would like to
see move on to bigger and better things as he matures. And while
I would
like to say that "Agent Cody Banks" is made watchable
because of his
participation, I simply cannot bring myself to do so.
--
|
| Image
and Sound: |
A pretty good transfer, although
not the best I've seen
from MGM. The 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced image benefits
from terrific
color saturation based on fleshtones, with good reproduction
and an overall
lack of smearing or bleed. Contrast is pretty solid throughout,
with
rock-hard blacks and crisp shadow detail throughout, while edges
are sharp
with an overall lack of enhancement halos. There are a few moments,
however,
where the source print looks a bit dirty, and film grain is
present in some
scenes moreso than others. Overall, though, this transfer does
the trick.
***
The sound is mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, and for what it
is, it's pretty
decent. Music has been given a noticeable boost here, especially
in the more
intense moments, and while surround utilization for the score
is audible,
it's somewhat minimal. Sound effects are imaged nicely, and
can be
aggressive as well, with some welcome and clean .1 LFE enhancement.
Dialogue
sounds crisp and sharp throughout, and channel separation is
good when
called for. Very nice.
|
| The
Extras: |
By most standards, the fact
that "Agent Cody Banks" was able to
surpass its $26 million budget by raking in almost twice that
makes it a box
office hit. Thus, we have the new special edition DVD, which
is loaded like
a college kid at the local pub on his 21st birthday.
***
Following the commentary (which, by the way, is available for
both versions
of the movie) is an enormous collection of featurettes whose
main flaw is
the lack of a "Play All" feature. It would have been
nice not to have to
access all of them singly, as most of them are pretty short
to begin with.
But, we can't have it all, now can we? Anyway, the titles pretty
much sum up
the content of the individual pieces, beginning with "Developing
Cody
Banks," "Creating Cody's World," and "Posting
Cody Banks," all of which
cover everything from the pre-production processes to the design
of various
sets, costumes, special effects, and the music created for the
movie. The
"Director's Diary" piece isn't all that, however,
as it tends to jump from
place to place without much interest, but for diehard fans it
should get the
job done. "Frankie Going Big" takes a focus on the
movie's star, Frankie
Muniz; "Agent Action" explores the stunt work; "How
to Talk to Girls" plays
on the fictional subplot of Muniz trying to romance Duff; and
""Makeup
Tricks by Hilary Duff" is pretty self-explanatory.
***
Sandwiched in between the featurettes are two storyboard-to-film
comparisons
covering the opening skateboard sequence and the finale, followed
by some
multi-angle sequences that show us four different views of one
scene.
Rounding out the disc are ten minutes of so-so deleted scenes
that don't
really do much for the movie, some outtakes, a photo gallery,
and some
theatrical trailers including one for the upcoming sequel "Agent
Cody Banks
2," due out in 2004. |
| Commentary:
|
Up first is an audio commentary
with director Harald Zwart and
cast members Frankie Muniz and Angie Harmon, which is pretty
interesting if
you liked the movie, but not so much if you used the movie's
running time to
think of dozens of things you could have been doing. The three
are very
jovial in their remarks, and every once and a while they recall
something
about the production, but mostly this is a pat-on-the-back conversation.
|
| Final
Words: |
While this DVD won't change
the face of history, despite the
fact that it can be a bit repetitive, fans will appreciate the
efforts of
the producers. |
|
|
