Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Agent Cody Banks

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Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 03-14-2003, 09:31 PM:

Newark Cinema Center (410 Newark Shopping Ctr., Newark, DE), House 3, 4:30 show
Sound: front stereo(Dolby A, I believe)-**1/2 (out of 4)+
Picture: minor dust, 1 hairline base scratch, opaque splicing tape [Razz]

** (out of 4)
Technical Problems: Film slowed to stop on 2nd from last trailer and slides came back up, they fixed it in about 2 mins. No deduction.
Overall Presentation: **1/2 (out of 4)

Now onto the movie:
I felt this movie was just a notch or 2 above the first "Spy Kids" (never saw the second, so can't comment there) and several notches above the last "007" installment. One thing I like is when I go to a movie and I can't tell that they're acting, this was the case for much of this film.
From the end I think they want to make a sequel. I hope they decide, just this once to leave well enough alone.
The sound mix was excellent from what I could tell. The soundtrack... John Powell's score was good, but they should have used more of it, and less rock music. It seems like when they went to put the soundtrack on, everyone brought along their kids' CDs and said "Put a lidle bid o each o dem on da track, oh and I guess we oughdda put some u dat score da guy rote for us." I believe this may have been partially the result of having a committee producing this thing. (8 Producers (counting all the executive, co- and otherwise)) The imagery borders on dazzling at times and it's in REAL SCOPE!!! [Big Grin]

Overall I give it *** out of 4 (of course)

+ This theater is working on a budget and can't really afford to upgrade to 4-channel surround or digital sound, especially after they had to dry up a veritable lake in the front half of House 3 caused by the snow melting.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 03-14-2003, 10:00 PM:

Be sure and watch Cody Banks' younger brother in the opening scene at the breakfast table pour his breakfast from an obviously empty cereal box (in about 1/2 second), then shake some milk out of the obviously empty carton (who shakes the milk jug when pouring?) and then take a bite whilst delivering a line of perfectly clear dialogue as fast as he can reopen his mouth...all conveniently just outside of the camera's frame. This is the worst example of "empty containers" I have ever seen in a movie, but it's good for a laugh.

Also, Cody is pulled from his basketball class into the CIA in the first reel. He is wearing his basketball jersey during class, yet he wears an orange shirt for the next several minutes whilst at the CIA headquarters (where he learns he will save the world, of course), and then in the next scene he has his basketball jersey on again. Pretty big goofup there considering the amount of film that passes!

Very good sound mix. The movie got a bit over the top in the last half though. Nowhere near as stupid as Spy Kids was, thankfully. A decent family film overall.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 04-23-2003, 01:19 PM:

Attendance: 2003/04/22 19:15, Carmike Century Cinema 8, Decatur, AL, Auditorium 4, Scope

This movie exceeded my expectations. I almost didn't see this movie because I was a bit angered that the last Frankie Muniz movie "Big Fat Liar" (which I also liked) was released in 1.33:1-only on DVD. I hope this won't happen with "Agent Cody Banks" since it was a scope film, filmed with anamorphic lenses. However, the credits said "Filmed with Panavision cameras and lenses" rather than "Filmed in Panavision".

His whole experience of not being able to talk to girls and "freezing up" when talking to them, reminds me of what I was like at that age. Frankie Muniz was born December 5, 1985, according to the Internet Movie Database, so he's 17, and will turn 18 later this year. He seems to be playing characters two years younger in his movies, which is interesting. He does look a little young for his age.

As for the presentation: 2 flat commercials were shown with scope lens and aperture, the focus was noticeable off, and a light from the booth was illuminating a rectangular area on the lower right of the screen.

I was the only person in the auditorium.

[ 04-24-2003, 03:37 PM: Message edited by: Evans A Criswell ]

Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 06-07-2003, 12:37 PM:

[Eek!]

I was expecting from the look of the trailers that this would be a 'PG' movie. I've just found out that it has been given a '12A' rating in the UK. (That's similar to a US PG-13 rating). And just checking the BBFC website I saw that the UK version of the film has been cut by 7 seconds to avoid getting a '15' rating. [Eek!]

(15 rated films include Matrix:Reloded, The Hunted, Final Destination 2, etc) It must be pretty violent.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 06-09-2003, 09:26 AM:

I noticed that the scene cut was an dangerous "double ear clip". I don't remember this, but I suppose it's where someone gets hit in both ears simultaneously by someone? They cut that but they keep the scene where Cody sets a guy on fire with that rocket scooter thing? I think these kind of cuts are arbitrary and silly. Fire on a person is violent unless it's the back of someone's pants, then it's just comedy.