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Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker Review: Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker is like a British Agent Cody Banks -- which actually already exists, sort of, in the form of Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. The difference is that the lead character (Alex Pettyfer) is actually British, and it's a pretty big one in terms of the film's apparent sophistication level. Pettyfer plays Alex Rider seriously, like a junior spy, rather than comically, like a kid in over his head -- though that doesn't mean we're spared the lame attempts at comedy. There's also a surprising amount of actual death, both among the villains and the good guys. The cast certainly points to it being a more adult entity, featuring the likes of Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Damian Lewis, Sophie Okonedo and a pre-comeback Mickey Rourke. But it's that pre-comeback Rourke, then a stigma rather than a boon, who really tips us off that Alex Rider is a low-rent enterprise. A silly appearance by Alicia Silverstone as Alex's nanny, in a hardly relevant role that just increases the misplaced humor quotient, doesn't help. Alex Rider was caught trying to appeal to both teens and pre-teens, both Brits and Americans, and also keeping the plot developments mature enough for adults. The piddling U.S. box office (less than 1 million) proved that the film could not have it both -- or maybe all three -- ways. Its execution is not what you would call "inept," but at every turn, the film proves itself "less than." Particularly cringe-worthy are the song choices. Five years past the height of their popularity and totally misapplied, songs like the Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." play during a paramilitary training sequence, while Paul Oakenfold's "Ready Steady Go" attempts to donate kinetic energy to a would-be chase scene on horseback, which is laughably inert. Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

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