Those Brits take things so seriously ! Here's an example: When we Americans make a film about a teenage spy -- like Agent Cody Banks -- we let the kid (Frankie Muniz) have a good time fooling around with high-tech spyware, hanging out with gorgeous ageappropriate girls and kicking terrorist backsides, with plenty of laughs along the way.
   That's not the situation for the 14-year-old agent at the heart of Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker. Young Master Rider, you see, is not enjoying himself -- he makes it quite clear -- as he labors for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, better known as MI6 (for its former name, Military Intelligence Sector 6).
   Based on the first of six enormously popular Alex Rider books written by Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker, screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, is the story of a nice-looking London schoolboy (Alex Pettyfer) who, having lost his parents at a young age, lives in a handsome contemporary townhouse with his Uncle Ian (Ewan McGregor). Since Ian's career as an international banker often takes him out of the country, Alex is tended by their American housekeeper, Jack Starlight (Alicia Silverstone).
   The kid is somewhat sullen. No wonder, since Uncle Ian pushes him into becoming fluent in French, German and Japanese, acquiring a black belt in karate, learning how to climb, canoe, shoot and excel in other outdoor pursuits, and putting up with Jack's enthusiastic but none-toobrilliant company at home.
   Those extracurricular skills come in handy, though, when Ian dies in a suspicious car accident and Alex discovers that his uncle wasn't a dull banker after all, but a skilled spook who was killed in the line of duty. The languages, the self-defense lessons, the survival skills were all meant to prepare Alex to follow in his uncle's stealthy footsteps -- whether he wants to or not.
   So our reluctant spy comes under the control of seamy Mr. Blunt (Bill Nighy) and Blunt's efficient assistant, Mrs. Jones (Sophie Okonedo), to pick up where his uncle left off: Figuring out why enormously wealthy industrialist Darrius Sayle (a corpulent Mickey Rourke) is grandly presenting all English schoolchildren with his new virtual reality computer system, known as Stormbreaker.
   Director Geoffrey Sax, working from a screenplay by author Horowitz, takes a matter-of-fact approach to the spy film genre. There's James Bond-ish gadgetry, but it's not overly emphasized. The violence is stylized, but still realistic. There are a few smileinducing moments, but they don't rely on sight gags or body function jokes to coax a lighter moment from the action. Except for Rourke's weird eye makeup and his pet jellyfish that looks like it was made out of carpet remnants, Alex Rider is too dark and devious to feel like a fairy tale.
   The reason for that is Pettyfer, a low-voiced source of stability. His lack of histrionics and calm control when facing one challenge after another -- usually with a complete lack of adult assistance -- keep the film grounded. So does the fact that he's not anxious to fill his uncle's shoes. He's cool and unemotional, but hey, he's not an American kid -- he's British, which accounts for that reserve, even in the outlandish situations he finds himself forced to maneuver.
   There have been a lot of comparisons between the cinematic Alex Rider and James Bond, but one thing is clear: Despite the incredibly empowered villains that seep from every corner and crevice, Mr. Bond is delighted to be a spy. Mr. Rider is not.

Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker B- Cast:
Alex Pettyfer, Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy, Mickey
   Rourke, Alicia Silverstone, Sophie Okonedo

Director:
Geoffrey Sax

Rating:
PG

Running time:
92 minutes

This story was published Friday, November 10, 2006