Grade: C

You can probably blame Robert Rodriguez for this pint-sized version of a James Bond flick. The Austin auteur isn’t involved with “Agent Cody Banks,” of course, but it was undoubtedly the success of his “Spy Kids” movies that got this one a studio green light.

But “Banks” doesn’t really resemble Rodriguez’s flamboyantly anarchic movies. It’s more like the relatively staid live action pictures that Disney churned out in the 1960s and 1970s starring Kurt Russell or Jan-Michael Vincent–in this case, a fairly straightforward teen transplant of the typical Bond formula, in spirit more akin to the recent “Clockstoppers” than the “Spy Kids” franchise. Here the eponymous Cody, a nerdy highschool student who also happens to be a CIA trainee, is assigned by the agency to get close to Natalie, a girl his age and the daughter of a scientist who’s under the thumb of one of those madmen aiming to conquer the world. The switch on the Bond recipe is that young Mr. Banks is hopelessly tongue-tied and inept around members of the opposite sex. But with the help of Ronica Miles, a sultry CIA handler, he overcomes his shyness and successfully foils the plot to dismantle the US missile fleet by an invasion of nasty metal-eating “nano-bots” encased in ice cubes. (Yes, you read that right.)

This is pretty silly standard-issue stuff (with, it should be noted, the apparently obligatory smattering of potty, vomit and flatulence gags), and it’s not even enlivened by much technological pizzazz–the glitziest gizmos on hand are a hovercraft that looks like a plastic model and some rocket skis. About all that it has going for it is Frankie Muniz in the lead role. The “Malcolm in the Middle” star, who also enlivened last year’s “Big Fat Liar,” remains a charmingly goofy kid who gets viewers on his side even when the material is weak, as in this case. Unfortunately Hilary Duff (from the “Lizzie McGuire” series) has little to do besides smiling and playing the damsel awaiting rescue, and Angie Harmon (late of “Law and Order”) not much beyond acting the hard-bitten professional. Continuing the bad news, Martin Donovan is typically bland as Natalie’s naive dad, while Keith David embarrasses himself badly as the volcanic Agency director. It may come as a surprise, though, that the villains don’t fare much better. A puffy Ian McShane is simply dull as the wicked Brinkman–even the moniker is a bad joke–and little is required of Arnold Vosloo (from “The Mummy”) but a scowl. Apart from Muniz, the only saving grace is SNL’s Darrell Hammond, who puts a good deal of his Bill Clinton imitation into the small role of the CIA’s invention-happy “Q.”

“Agent Cody Banks” has received a fairly spiffy production, and director Harald Zwart keeps things moving along smartly, with some well-choreographed action sequences. In the end, though, it’s just too familiar and unimaginative to be anything more than a forgettable time-waster for undemanding family audiences. The only thing remarkable about it is that it boasts a roster of no fewer than fourteen producers, co-producers and executive producers (including, among others, Jason Alexander and Madonna). At roughly one for every seven minutes of movie, that’s got to be some sort of record. And unhappily, they far outnumber the movie’s virtues.