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Parents' Guide to

Code Name Banshee

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Lots of guns, violence in female-driven action movie.

Movie NR 2022 93 minutes
Code Name Banshee Movie: Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 13+

Based on 1 parent review

Movieholic
Movieholic Adult
July 1, 2022
age 13+

Action packed and blood soaked. My kind of movie

Action packed and blood soaked. My kind of movie 🎬
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In CODE NAME BANSHEE former CIA agent Caleb (Antonio Banderas) went into hiding after a mission involving the Russians turned bad. Caleb's partner had a daughter, Banshee (Jaime King), who now works as an assassin for hire. While on a job, she has a run-in with deadly ex-special forces man Anthony Greene (Tommy Flanagan), who offers her $1 million if she'll give up Caleb's location. She uses all her skills to escape, and then, teamed with her "man in the chair" Kronos (Aleksander Vayshelboym), tracks down Caleb herself. She discovers that he's set up a new life for himself as a bartender and is raising a daughter of his own, Hailey (Catherine Davis). But when Kronos is compromised and Greene finds out where Caleb is, the trio must prepare to fight for their lives.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

While it's great to see King confident in a straight-up warrior role, there's so little actually going on in this flat action movie that it feels like the warmup act for a much better movie. King is the best thing in Code Name Banshee, as she demonstrates in a cool scene in which she's in an elevator, trapped by four armed henchmen on either side of the door. She drops to the floor, on her back, and with two quick motions, dispatches all of them. Some of the quiet scenes between her, Banderas, and Davis are also somewhat touching. But quiet scenes are rare in this one. It's all about the shootouts: shootout after shootout after shootout.

Aside from that, the movie has many useless flashbacks to Caleb and Banshee's father's failed mission. But even looking at the same footage again and again offers little illumination; none of it matters in the long run. And Flanagan's over-the-top performance as Greene is flat-out annoying, as he spouts creaky old lines like "well, well, well!" and "little pigs! Little pigs!" in a threatening Scottish accent. As the movie winds down after its final showdown, you may realize that the real story here is the two daughters, Banshee and Hailey, now teaming up and becoming a new force to be reckoned with. But that's just where Code Name Banshee ends. It's too bad no one seemed to have seen their potential.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Code Name Banshee's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

  • How does the movie treat its women characters? Are they strong? Do they have agency? Why does that matter?

  • What does the movie have to say about revenge?

  • What is the father-daughter relationship in the story like? How is it similar to or different than your own relationships?

Movie Details

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